A Sydney bakery has pleaded with customers to hold back their delivery fee criticism after owners were forced to renege on an initial promise of free delivery until the end of lockdown.

15 Centimeters, which specialises in Japanese-style basque cheesecakes, announced in a post on Instagram that they were “beaten up by” the high costs of delivery, and would need to charge a delivery fee from next week.

By way of explanation, they broke down the costs involved in the production of the renowned cakes, staff and kitchen overheads, and the cost of delivery—which sometimes doubled for orders where no one is home to take delivery on the first attempt.

The high operational costs along with the seemingly-never ending NSW lockdown meant that it was becoming difficult for the business to make a profit, prompting the difficult decision to charge a delivery fee on orders under $100 (free delivery still stands for orders over $100).

Heartbreakingly, they explained in the post that it was a difficult one to publish, because in the past “haters” have criticised them and described them as “evil” and trying to “rip off customers”.

“We are sure we will receive dozens of emails this time,” they wrote.

“We were truly heartbroken when we received any emails or messages like that at the beginning and now we are learning to deal with it, we have grown so much during the process.

“But fortunately, majority of our customers are soo amazing and lovely, we really can’t thank you enough for the support and love, every time you tell us you loved our cheesecake, that’s the thing has kept us moving forward!!

“Again, sorry for the big paragraph. We understand this happens to all the small businesses and we are not the only one. Thank you for being so kind to all the businesses just like us! And we will keep creating the best products and bring the happiness to everyone!”