[tferris]

'What a great subscription based business' is always my very first thought when I read news from Candy Japan. And every time I try to come up with a similar idea matching my region but I don't find any.

And these income reports are clever Marketing.

[bemmu]

It's true there is marketing benefit from HN. Not just directly, but many bloggers read HN and sometimes feature the service because of that (btw. if you're thinking of doing that, you can reach [e-mail]).

[shiftpgdn]

For what it's worth I hadn't heard of you guys until this post and I just signed up. I imagine I'm not the only one.

[bemmu]

Thank you! So far there have been 23 new subscribers today that I would attribute to this HN post.

[icebraining]

And every time I try to come up with a similar idea matching my region but I don't find any.

I did the same, but my idea didn't really work. Too bulky and sensitive to the shipping delays.

[bemmu]

Pastries do sound troublesome. Even with candies I have to avoid sending anything crumbly or containing chocolate or otherwise they will take severe damage during some trips. For example many postal systems are automated and move mail through conveyor belts that can sometimes crush items.

[vasco]

Pastéis de Belém, heh?

[icebraining]

That was my first idea, but it's actually a trademark[1] owned by "Antiga Confeitaria de Belém Lda", and I didn't want to get involved in ugly legalese.

[1]: http://oami.europa.eu/CTMOnline/RequestManager/en_Result?tra...

[tferris]

What, flowers from Holland?

[icebraining]

No, pastries from Portugal :)

[tferris]

That's a marvelous idea.

If they are the same as those I once ate in Barcelona—really tiny, perfect details, like small artworks and excellent shape and colors—you should go for this.

Question is: how long is the durability. Probably you have to find expensive delivery services for food with a cold chain distribution.

But the idea is good, I never saw such pastries somewhere else again. Are they the same in Portugal?

EDIT: I found a link (think it was Bubo): http://www.cocoonbarcelona.com/blog/favourite-pastries-barce...

[icebraining]

They're actually rather different: http://saltofportugal.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/pasteis-de...

But yes, it'd be hard to keep them fresh while not inflating the costs too much (I don't expect them to be sold as expensive delicatessen).

[DanBC]

I imagine fresh food would have a bunch of weird import restrictions.