Treats get people to your table. Team merch is what they remember and tag in photos after the table is packed up. At Soft Bakes by KC we order both together for every Calgary market and pop-up, because a great cookie box next to a wrinkled t-shirt still looks like a folding-table operation.
This post covers how we plan event merch and treats side by side, and why we keep ordering team apparel from the same DTF supplier instead of shopping around every time.
Why treats and merch are one planning decision, not two
If you plan cookie boxes in one conversation and shirts in another, colors clash and deadlines slip separately. We set both at once: box packaging, label colors, and what the team is wearing get decided the same week so the whole table reads as one brand, not a bake sale next to a merch table.
See how we handle the treat side in our custom cookie box guide and pop-up branding notes.
Why we use Formulated Prints for team apparel
Small bakeries do not need a 50-shirt minimum. We need ten to twenty pieces, printed correctly, in time for a Saturday market. Formulated Prints handles DTF transfers at that scale without treating a small order like an afterthought. That matters when your event date is fixed and reprints are not an option.
We first worked with them on team shirts for SOHO Volume 1, and it became the default vendor for every event since.
What we order and why it holds up
Small chest logos on black or neutral shirts. Simple designs survive a full market day of lifting boxes, wiping hands, and standing under tent lighting better than large back prints with fine detail. Custom DTF gang sheets let us print a small batch without paying for a run size we do not need.
Planning timeline that keeps both on track
Three weeks out: confirm box flavors and shirt design together. Two weeks out: send art to print, confirm packaging order. One week out: pick up shirts, pack display items. Day of: focus on the table, not on whether the shirts arrived. Full breakdown in our branding a Calgary pop-up guide.
If you run a Calgary booth too
Vendors comparing DTF suppliers before their next event should read the supplier checklist Formulated Apps put together. It covers the same small-run questions we ask before every order: minimums, turnaround, and what happens when art needs a last-minute fix.
Thank you to Formulated Prints for keeping our team looking like a real business at every market, and to every Calgary organizer who makes room for small vendors.
