After purchasing a smashable chocolate heart for Valentine’s Day from a small business owner on Instagram, I felt inspired to create a guide compiling a list of local Bay Area small businesses on Instagram to support. You can use this as a gift guide or for your own personal purchases!
Smash Sprinkle Pop
Elizabeth Do of Smash Sprinkle Pop makes the cutest smashable chocolate hearts and chocolate-covered strawberries. The heart already has candy underneath it, but you can also lift it up to add your own surprise inside! These are the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, Mother’s Day, and anniversaries.
Order via DM for Bay Area delivery.
Baked by Mae
These are not your average cookies. Baked by Mae makes delectable flavors of cookies such as lemon blueberry—a brown sugar cookie base with blueberries, white chocolate chips, lemon wafers, and a blueberry toaster-pastry to top it off. Other flavors include strawberry matcha latte and confetti circus animal. I’m drooling over here just reading these cookie descriptions.
Available for Bay Area/Sacramento delivery and shipping worldwide.
Jina Bakes
Jina’s quarantine box quickly became popular among Bay Area foodies this past year. In the March box, you’ll find a galbi jjim (Korean braised short ribs) croissant, hojicha cream puffs, matcha pound cake, mango panna cotta, and butter mochi.
Available for pickup in Japantown, SF, and delivery (SF/Peninsula/South Bay).
Trifection SF
Peanut butter chicken sandwich, matcha chili oil noodles, or falooda egg tarts, anyone? Check out Trifection’s rotating menu for unique Asian fusion items.
Preorder online for pickup.
Naber Eatery
Alexis and Chris are eager to share bites from their nāberhood with you. These mochi bites have a chewy center that will leave you wanting more! I recommend the pandan and matcha flavors for indecisive first-timers.
Order on nabereatery.com for pickup in Milpitas, CA.
Elite Treats by Nia
Who doesn’t love a classic iced cookie? Nia’s custom sugar cookie creations are perfect for any special occasion. Just look at how cute these boba cookies are!
DM for orders in the Bay Area.
Pie it Up
Ube, the purple yam from the Philippines, is making its way into more and more desserts here in the states. Pie it Up serves a rotating menu of fun pies, including ube and Hawaiian chocolate haupia.
Available for pickup in North San Jose and at local pop-ups.
Cook Delish by Mama Lin
Mama Lin bakes a variety of Asian pastries including mochi and pineapple cookies, red bean salty egg puffs, boba milk tea mochi, and garlic bread.
Order online and pickup in Hayes Valley, SF and Daly City. Individual delivery is also offered.
Make Snacks
Which chiffon cake will you choose? Orange or pandan? Make Snacks’ orange chiffon cake is dairy-free and made with hand-squeezed sweet navel oranges and mandarins, and is topped with candied orange slices.
Available in whole or by the slice for pickup in SF or Bay Area delivery.
Sweet Freedom
Sweet Freedom is an allergy-friendly catering bakery! Enjoy a delightful cupcake, cake, or cookie that is free of gluten, dairy, wheat, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, and soy. I’m gluten-intolerant and lactose-intolerant, so Sweet Freedom is definitely at the top of my list of Bay Area small businesses to support.
Order online for Bay Area delivery.
Sultry Salts
Elevate your cooking with all-natural infused gourmet sea salts from Sultry Salts. The applewood smoked sea salt is perfect for ribeye steaks, and the black truffle salt goes well with pasta.
Order on sultrysalts.com–free shipping in the US.
Oh La La Picnics
Ready to bring your picnic game to the next level? Oh La La styles lavish picnic experiences and floral arrangements in SF.
DM to schedule and order.
Perfectly Splendid
With social-distancing and COVID-19 precautions, I’m sure you’ve discovered a newfound love for picnics. Perfectly Splendid is another amazing luxury picnic planner.
Crystalworks.kr
Plan your picnic at perfectlysplendid.co.
Looking to add some aesthetic to your work-from-home desk? Check out Crystalworks.kr for handmade resin art trays, coasters, lashing tiles, and more.
Candila
Freshen up your room with a hand-poured soy candle from Candila. Trix and Alexa, two Filipino sisters, are the founders of Bay Area-based Candila, and they donate 10% of sales to animal charities.
Order online at bycandila.com
DM for custom orders.
Sweet Tea Flowers
A flower bouquet will brighten anyone’s day. Sweet Tea Flowers is a custom online florist creating beautiful blooms throughout the SF Bay Area.
Shop or submit custom orders at sweetteaflowers.com.
I hope you enjoyed this guide of Bay Area small businesses to support. If you give any of these businesses a go, make sure to tag them on Instagram to show some love