"Due to the tension I felt a little bit dizzy. I cannot take a shower because I have all the tapings and there was not enough time for everything.

l Meal deals special With Subway leading the way on meal deals, we ask if more bakery retailers should be following suit

At West Kent Quarter Sessions, Maidstone, Benjamin Shepherd, confectioner, was charged with stealing two gross of aniseed balls and other articles, to the value of £3, the property of William Hodges, Chatham, between 1 June and 3 October.

Continuing our rock 'n' roll-meets-bakery theme of recent issues, Louise Niles of Thomas Danby College was presented with the the Sharon Foster Award by the Kaiser Chiefs last month.

Are your staff lethargic? Are they difficult to motivate? The solution is simple: wean them off the workplace booze and cheese binges.

Next time you watch The Apprentice, keep an eye out for what biccies Sir Alan has got on his boardroom table. Around 80% of UK business folk surveyed reckoned the quality of biscuits they offered to potential clients was crucial to swinging a deal. The report, conducted by Holiday Inn, revealed that chocolate digestives, shortbread and Hob Nobs, topped the bill, while crumbly biscuits were more likely to garner a "You're fired!"

The main event

Various roles

Marco Olmi, at The Drury Tea & Coffee Company, said Caffè Culture at London's Olympia last month was one of his favourite exhibitions and Drury has attended all three shows so far. "The high standards have been maintained by the organisers this year with good visitor numbers attending. We find that visitors are at the same time both knowledgeable and prepared to commit themselves to purchase."

This is a real classic from Switzerland and Austria, where it's as well-known as a Bakewell Tart is here.

Defra's Food Service and Eating Out: An Economic Survey (2007), defines foodservice suppliers as providers of food items to catering outlets that offer eating locations outside the home. But retailers are increasingly supplying foodservice-style products for consumption at home and the range of retail outlets offering food (eg, sandwiches), virtually indistinguishable from that of takeaways, is growing.

It's great to see a new report highlighting an opportunity for more sales of snazzy cakes in the foodservice sector. Well, it would be if anyone could agree on what on earth foodservice actually means.

W ith increasing consumer awareness about what they are eating, the current trend is the use of natural fresh ingredients. It's easier for small craft bakers who sell locally to use more fresh fruit pieces in their toppings, as many have a relatively short shelf-life and are made for immediate consumption. "The biggest trend, though, is that people want premium products and they are actually willing to pay for them," says Stuart Allan, operations and development director of Indulgence Patisserie.

Manufacturers and bakers will be able to get free advice on automating their plants from CenFRA, a newly-formed body whose vision is to to provide independent, affordable automation solutions.

Düsseldorf's giant exhibition halls swallowed up more than 179,000 visitors over the seven days of Interpack, a monster, triennial processes and packaging bash. More than 2,700 exhibitors, including packaging and processing equipment manufacturers, used the event to launch their very latest models, boasting improved efficiency and sophisticated technology. Both traditional and "eco-friendly" packaging manufacturers also used Interpack as a springboard for their launches.

With landfill tax now costing £32 a tonne and set to rise by £8/tonne every year until 2012, business is facing an inflation-busting bill for its waste.

I'd like to reply to the comment by tutor Jim Bridge in the 16 May edition of BB, about the fact that we need to be looking at 13 to 14-year-olds. Alas, most school careers officers don't have a clue about bakery as a career.

Fresh apricots are available now, and as they need a warm climate to thrive, most of the apricots on sale in Britain during the summer come from European countries revelling in hot climates. They are cultivated in many areas worldwide from Asia to Australia, North Africa to the USA. Many of these are sold dried.

A lot of time is spent here at the SoHo Sandwich Co working with both our chefs and numerous bread suppliers to create interesting combinations of fillings with the right bread to bring out the flavour. We need to use a perfectly balanced selection of flavours and textures to make the customers keep coming back.

As Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte descended on London recently with the arrival of Sex And The City, never did the humble cupcake enjoy such fashion iconic status.

Employers are obliged to provide information to, and consult with, trade union or other appropriate representatives where they propose to make 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment within 90 days or less.

Kettering-based labelling, bar-coding and software solution specialist AM Labels, has added the world's first 3.5" screen all-in-one PDA, the Bluebird, to its portfolio. The Bluebird offers powerful functionality, integrated GPS receiver with worldwide navigation capability and is teamed with a large 3.5" screen, suitable for sales and mobile staff where the automation of business processes is imperative. AM says the PDA is suitable for tracking electronic ticketing, product data and customer information.

Eurotek has launched a snow removal system for frozen food manufacturers. Designed to keep evaporator fins clear of snow, it allows freezing lines to run for twice as long between defrosts.

FWB Products has launched a range of gloves for the catering and foodservice industries. The range includes nitrile, latex, temperature-resistant, chain mail and disposable varieties. The gloves have been designed to be compliant with all relevant food legislation and regulations.

European Process Plant launched a deck oven from MIWE at the Baking Industry Exhibition earlier this year. The MIWE condo has all the features of a professional rack oven, but takes up less space and "handles everything from delicate pastry to hearty bread".

Distributor Apuro has introduced the low-cost Samsung semi-commercial microwave oven to "fill the gap between light-duty domestic models and more expensive, larger commercial microwaves". The Samsung Superlite CM1039K has a power output of 1,000w and has a black metal outer cabinet and stainless steel inner cavity. Apuro says it is "designed to withstand the demand of a semi-commercial environment" and is suitable for small cafés, where microwaves are not the main source of cooking.

What's new?

Drink Me Chai has added a new flavour to its range at Caffè Culture. Chocolate Spice Chai is made from a blend of cocoa and the traditional Chai blend of spices, black tea, and skimmed milk. It joins the existing range, which includes Spiced, Vanilla and Peppermint flavours.

Brand owner PepsiCo International has got Ziggurat Brands to redesign the packaging for Gatorade for its first scale launch in the UK. The refreshed packaging has been designed to emphasise the brand's sports performance benefits.

Ribena is supporting its recently launched Ribena 100% Pure Juices, with a £3m TV and radio advertising campaign to heighten awareness of its new 100% Pure Juice's two flavours - Blackcurrant Blend and Raspberry & Blackberry Blend. Airing now, the 'Juicer' campaign focuses on the range's "nothing but pure fruit juices" selling point, and features people trying, and failing, to juice their own fruit, with humorous consequences.

Bio-Synergy, which specialises in functional waters, sports energy drinks and supplements, has added three new functional waters to its range. Bio-Synergy Fitness Water, Bio-Synergy Gym Tonic and Bio-Synergy Sub Zero, have been designed to help complement workouts.

The importance of investing in the future of the industry emerged as a key theme at this year's SAMB (Scottish Association of Master Bakers) Technical Sessions, which were held at the Peebles Hydro Hotel. Guest speaker Pat Smyth, who is president of the Irish Association of Master Bakers and managing director of AB Mauri company Yeast Products, stressed the need to address the industry's "low skills base", adding that "educational support is becoming an issue". He also identified a problem with retaining people in the industry.

How do we solve a problem like organics? Once the hills were alive with the sound of ringing cash tills, as the organic market continued its decade-long steady growth. But the organic idyll was recently upset by an ominous rumbling in the form of new data, which showed that the organics market suffered the first year-on-year downturn in sales this year in April (source TNS Global).

There have been, I admit, quite a few occasions when I've made a decision that didn't really work out as planned, such as the location for a shop. Then, through a stroke of good fortune, someone has come along and made me an offer for the site that gave me a good profit - and I always took the credit for being so far-sighted.

California Raisins

Price Measurement Change (%)

The Guardian featured a letter that challenged the notion that rising grain costs has contributed greatly to soaring prices on the shelves. It said: "According to the EU directorate for agriculture, the grain cost within 'bread, cereals and respective products' fell from 19% in 1970/71 to 4% by 2002/03. It suggests that food prices are more sensitive to cost increases in the other 96% of the retail cost of bread. The non-cereal cost components include energy-intensive food processing, packaging and transport."

The Association of Bakery Ingredient Manufacturers (ABIM) held a forum on 6 June focusing on Growing a Sustainable Bakery Industry. The theme included social, economic and environmental topics.

Steve's Cakes in Antrim, which produces homemade cakes and traybakes, is to supply one of Ireland's leading foodservice organisations, Pallas Foods.

Food retailers are shielding customers from the full impact of soaring commodity prices, according to figures produced by the British Retail Consor- tium (BRC).

Fairtrade beverage producers must continue to innovate to cater for both older and more affluent consumers as well as younger professionals, according to new research conducted on behalf of Aimia Foods.

Beverage machine manufacturer N&W is celebrating after successfully showcasing its equip- ment in conjunction with Percol, the Fairtrade and organic coffee brand, at Caffè Culture.

Work is under way on Warburtons' £45 million new 'super-bakery' in Bristol, which is expected to employ 450 staff and produce 1.5 million products each week.

Greggs grows

Salt limit

Residents of Dunbar in East Lothian are so concerned about the possible closure of the William Smith's bakery, that they are putting together a plan for the local community to buy it.

International food, ingredients and retail group Associated British Foods (ABF) has announced the merger of W Jordan & Son (Silo) ('Jordans') and its Ryvita Crispbread business.

Northern Ireland bakery Irwin's has broken new commercial ground by securing contracts to supply its Nutty Krust batch bread to retailers in the Irish Republic.

The Bakery School, a web-based online resource tool, went live on 31 May.

A total of 450 jobs have been axed after the Lyndale Group was put into administration, which led to the closure of the Sayers' bakery in Norris Green, Liverpool, 41 stores across the north west and the Sayers headquarters in the city.

Pasty specialist Ginsters has launched a New York-style Steak and Cheese pasty to its Pasties of the World range. The pasty contains West Country steak, New York deli-style mustard and manchego cheese.

A total of 105 new entrants - a record number - have entered the Baking Industry Awards 2008, to be held on Monday 15 September.

Every penny of profit generated at Costa coffee stores on 14 June is to be donated to coffee-growing regions to help with the provision of school buildings, clean water and other facilities.

Belgian firm Vandemoortele Food Group is poised to take over Panavi, France's leading manufacturer of frozen bakery products, for an undisclosed sum.

Prison bakery