Why Do Croissants Cost So Much to Make? The True Cost of Lamination

Croissants may be small, but behind every flaky layer is a long list of ingredients, time-consuming labor, and technical challenges. For bakeries, caterers, and food businesses, producing croissants at scale is anything but simple. The price tag reflects that.

And while customers may grumble at a five dollar croissant, food businesses know that price often barely covers the cost of production. Between the cost of high-fat butter, the days-long lamination process, and the skill required to get it right, croissants are among the most labor-intensive baked goods on any menu. They might look light and airy on the outside, but every batch represents hours of prep and precision behind the scenes.

The signature texture of a croissant comes from lamination. This is the process of rolling and folding butter into dough to create hundreds of alternating layers. The dough itself, called the détrempe, is a mixture of flour, yeast, milk or water, sugar, and salt. Once the butter is enclosed inside the dough, it is rolled out and folded multiple times, with rest periods in between.

Each fold multiplies the number of layers. By the time the dough is shaped and baked, a single croissant can have more than eighty individual layers. This structure is what creates the flake and lift, but it takes multiple days and exact conditions to pull off.

The lamination process is long and requires a controlled environment. The dough must rest and chill between each round of rolling to keep the butter from melting. If the temperature is too warm, the butter leaks and the layers collapse. If it is too cold, the dough can crack or tear.

Even in professional kitchens, it can take more than twenty-four hours to complete the process properly. From making the détrempe to adding the butter, completing folds, shaping, proofing, and finally baking, there are at least six to eight separate stages that need time and space.

This kind of timeline is very different from producing cookies or muffins, which can go from dough to oven in under an hour.

Butter is not just a flavoring in croissants. It is structural. Most bakeries use European-style butter with higher fat content, often around eighty-two percent. This butter performs better in lamination because it stays pliable when cold and does not release water into the dough.

Using lower-fat or lower-cost butter can lead to breakage, greasy layers, or flat, dense results. Add in the cost of high-protein flour, whole milk, yeast, sugar, and salt, and even the ingredient bill alone is significantly higher than other types of pastries.

Multiply these costs by the hundreds or thousands of units many kitchens need to make each week, and the expense quickly becomes clear.

Laminated dough is delicate and requires a skilled hand. Even with mechanical sheeters, bakers must know how to handle the dough without tearing or overworking it. Folding must be even. Rolling must be consistent. Temperature must be watched at every step.

Croissants are not the kind of product that can be handed off to just anyone in the kitchen. A trained pastry team is essential. That means more labor hours and higher wages, especially if production is happening overnight or on tight schedules.

Training staff to do this correctly can take months. For many bakeries, that labor commitment is one of the biggest reasons croissants remain expensive to produce.

Laminated dough does not leave much room for error. If butter leaks or the dough proofs unevenly, the final product can fail. Even small changes in temperature or humidity can affect how croissants rise and bake.

If just ten percent of a batch is lost due to improper folding, broken layers, or overbaking, that eats into already slim margins. That risk has to be built into the overall pricing.

Croissants are also highly perishable. Unlike cookies or breads that stay fresh for days, croissants are best eaten the same day they are baked. That adds pressure to produce only what will sell and accept that any unsold inventory becomes waste.

Making croissants requires dedicated equipment and space. That includes a dough sheeter, temperature-controlled refrigeration, and often proofers. These are not optional for large-scale production.

The dough must be spaced carefully during baking to allow for proper lift and airflow. That limits how many can be baked per tray and per oven cycle. In small kitchens or high-volume operations, that takes time and slows output.

Refrigerators also fill quickly. Between resting and proofing, croissant dough can occupy space for more than a full day. That blocks other products and forces a shift in scheduling.

To save on labor and space, some bakeries use frozen, pre-laminated croissant dough. These are often produced in centralized facilities with commercial sheeting and then shipped for final proofing and baking.

While this does lower costs and reduce skill requirements, it comes at a price. Frozen doughs often have fewer layers, shorter shelf life after baking, and less flavor. They also reduce control over custom sizes or shapes, which can limit menu flexibility.

For bakeries and food businesses that value quality and differentiation, frozen dough is not always an acceptable substitute.

Some shops use blended butter or margarine to reduce cost. Others experiment with fewer folds or adjust their shaping techniques. While this can bring down expenses, it also compromises texture and quality.

The more reliable way to manage cost is to optimize workflow. That might mean producing larger batches less frequently, investing in better refrigeration, or training a dedicated pastry lead to reduce error and waste.

Even with these strategies, croissants will always be more expensive than simpler baked goods. The combination of labor, ingredients, and process guarantees that.

From the outside, a croissant looks like a simple item. But it represents days of work, premium ingredients, skilled hands, and a lot of risk. That five dollar price does not leave much room for profit. In many bakeries, croissants serve more as a draw to bring in customers who then purchase other items.

The croissant is often the most complex thing a bakery sells for the lowest margin. But for many food businesses, it is still worth it because of what it represents. It is a mark of quality, technique, and care.

At Baker’s Authority, we know what goes into making a great croissant. We offer bulk quantities of high-fat butter, specialty flours, and other essentials that help you control cost while maintaining quality. Whether you are producing laminated doughs from scratch or looking for high-performance ingredients, we are here to support your operation.

Croissants are a challenge, but they are also a statement. With the right support, your bakery can keep them on the menu without sacrificing margin or quality.