Pork Farms has become the first major retail brand to display the British Lion egg products mark on-pack.

Warrington-based company Windsor CakeCraft has seen its internet sales increase 2,300% as the credit crunch encourages consumers to decorate their own celebration cakes.

Northern Foods announced a “strong performance” in its Bakery division in its full year results to 28 March 2009.

Customer: "So it'll be either you or Joanna Lumley running the country next?"

l Conference report From farmers to hoteliers to chip shop owners to bakers, two eccentric entrepreneurs have the SAMB conference in the palms of their hands

5 January, 1941: BB nearly burns

As a big fan of ex-BB columnist Dan Lepard, Stop the Week was amused to see a scuffle break out between him and Matthew Drennan, editor of Delicious - a magazine he contributes to (or should we say, has done) - on his Guardian baking blog.

The truth of the phrase "you've got to be in it to win it" has never been more cruelly exposed - at least in the world of bakery - than it was last week at Bako London's showcase event to mark its 50th anniversary.

Environmentally friendly packaging is not only a good way for your business to 'do its bit', but can also act as a selling point for goods, as consumers become increasingly aware of their benefits. But are eco-only packaging companies better than generic companies that offer sustainable options as part of their range?

The market for small treats has benefited as recession-hit consumers seek comfort in cakes. "Consumers still appear to have a taste for small cake products," says Michael Evans, communications manager for cakes giant Greencore. "Tubs of mini cake rolls, bars, flapjack bites and the like are still fairly prominent in retailers' fixtures, with almost 90% of households buying small cakes, partaking on average 15 times a year," he says. Indeed small cakes make up the largest sector of the £1.3 bn ambient cake market, standing at £464m and growing at 6.6% per year. "Promotional activity has inevitably helped generate some of this growth," he explains.

Benier - how do you pronounce it? Well, it's not 'benny-er', though many of us may have thought so. It's more like 'ben ear' and MD David Marsh has a useful way of helping customers and hapless journalists remember. He says we should just think of the phrase 'bin 'ere, done that!' and it works! Just try it.

As craft bakers, along with other independent retailers, you may be feeling the pinch. Cost-cutting is important and, at times like these, it seems an easy option to stop spending time or money on marketing and publicity. But this would be a mistake. Your customers, the consumers, are also feeling vulnerable and uncertain of what lies ahead, so now is the time to communicate with them through all means available. You must reassure them that they still get the best value for money and quality from their local craft baker.

Following on from BB's sandwich forum in 8 May issue, we ask:

Ginger has been used in British baking for many years in gingerbreads, ginger cakes, parkins and ginger snaps. Although you can occasionally use grated fresh root ginger in cakes and biscuits, ground ginger is more generally used and, in some recipes, the flavour of ginger can be increased and enhanced by adding crystallised or preserved stem ginger.

By Daniel Stevens, introduced by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Tom Herbert is a fifth-generation baker and director of Hobbs House Bakery, a multi-award-winning craft bakery, based in Gloucestershire

Dorset bakery Honeybuns has launched its new range of cookies at the Caffé Culture exhibition. The products include polenta and ground, toasted almonds and are free from gluten and refined sugar.

Alleggra Foods has launched a premium-style crème cake mix for retail and craft bakers.

A new company Print Delicious is having huge success with its edible chocolate images in Ireland. The company, based in Bray, Co Wicklow, is marketed as "the creative chocolate printing company" and was inspired by the Chocolography Technology company in the US.

Foodservice supplier Brakes has expanded its portfolio of mini savoury buffet items, with seven new canapés, developed as a twist on traditional British recipes. Varieties include Brakes Mini Cottage Pie, a shortcrust pastry case filled with minced beef and onion gravy, topped with a rosette of Cheddar and chive mash.

Summer is just around the corner, which means it's time to review your beverage and snacking offer. As you know, when the sun shines, our sales are often affected and not always to our benefit. So let's explore a 'weather friendly' menu.

German vending machine manufacturer Sielaff has come up with an environmentally friendly way to return and recycle PET bottles and cans.

Sussex bakery chain Forfars has reduced costs and man-hours after introducing the Toshiba B-SV4D compact desktop printers and Solo software from KTEC to print labels. With label formats stored on the printers, the time-consuming manual labelling process was replaced by printing on demand. The KTEC solution is USB-based, so any changes to the label formats or prices can be sent from head office on a memory stick, for download directly to the printer on site.

The Handmade Cake Company has launched a new range of tray-baked Cake Squares.

Competitions, karaoke and camaraderie were just a few of the ingredients that went into an eventful May Bank Holiday weekend at the Alliance of Bakery Students and Trainees' (ABST) conference in Torquay.

Close to 2,000 jobs could be at risk in the Irish Republic baking industry as supermarkets sell bread at big discounts. Jobs under threat are in production, distribution, van sales and among shop staff. And at least one major plant bakery is at risk of closure.

Pine nuts: The problem of shorter supply out of China has been exacerbated by the ending of any volumes being allowed to be imported from neighbouring former Soviet Union states, leaving China stranded, with insufficient stocks to meet its existing and new forward demand. We would advise manufacturers to reverse any new product development involving pine nuts, as supply will be tricky at best. Any forward contracts into the UK trade will be a nightmare to fulfil and it may end up cheaper to buy a retail pack off the shelves than to buy a bulk container from China.

Consumers are in favour of a single front-of-pack (FOP) labelling scheme, according to the results of a research project by the Project Management Panel, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency.

Kirk Hunter

Hovis has continued to build its market share, according to Premier Foods' interim results for the 16 weeks to 25 April 2009.

European frozen bakery sup-plier Lantmännen Unibake has increased its share in Bakehouse, and now has a majority stake in the bake-off supplier.

The National Minimum Wage will rise to £5.80 per hour from October this year, for workers aged 22 and over, the government announced last week. This is a 7p increase per hour on the current rate of £5.73 - a rise of 1.2%.

Swedish bakery company Peter's Yard, which opened an upmarket bakery and coffee shop in Edinburgh last year, has moved into wholesale in the UK for the first time with a range of traditional Swedish crispbreads.

Inflation on the price of baked goods is running well below the food industry average, as retai-lers look to hold prices on staple products such as bread.

== Tesco's Genius move ==

== Employee cleared ==

The NAMB has opted to go with the Scottish Association of Master Bakers (SAMB) training providers, based on workplace training, delivered by accredited industry tutors and assessors.

Anthony Kindred of Kindred's Bakery in Surrey told members at this year's NAMB conference that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) wants bakers to reach 2010 salt targets of 1.1g salt per 100g of bread. At his bakery, the FSA took a test loaf, analysed it and said that, whereas many bakers based salt on flour weight, they wanted it based on dough weight. Tests are still at the research stage.

At the National Association of Master Bakers (NAMB) conference in Bournemouth last week, both the Irish president Patrick Smyth and Scottish president George Stevenson congratulated the NAMB on its most successful event in many years.

Four more café chains have agreed to work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to promote healthier eating through their shops.

Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc has returned, after a long absence, to spearhead a major relaunch of the Maison Blanc patisserie chain.

== Greggs' sales up ==

Craft bakers up and down the country are gearing up for National Craft Bakers' Week, with special promotions and bakery tours for schoolchildren planned.

Upmarket cake shop and café chain Konditor & Cook plans to open its sixth outlet in London in the autumn, which will also offer baking classes and wedding cake consultations.

The Carbon Trust has seen a record uptake for its unsecured interest-free loans for energy-saving investments in the last three months, after funding from banks dried up and the Trust relaxed its lending criteria.

UK oven manufacturer Double D Food Engineering has been acquired by US food processing equipment supplier JBT Food- Tech, for an undisclosed sum.

Country Style Foods plans to double capacity for artisanal breads at its Grimsby factory after investing in a giant new stone bake oven that can produce up to 4,000 loaves per hour.

Don't forget to send in your entries for The In-Store Bakery Award for the chance to shine at this year's Baking Industry Awards. The deadline is 1 June, so don't delay, get your forms in now. To download entry forms visit bakeryawards.co.uk or contact Helen Law on 01293 846587 or email helen.law@william-reed.co.uk.

By Patrick McGuigan

As we now all know, the credit crunch has developed over recent months from a phenomenon mainly affecting the banking and capital markets, to a full recession, impacting on every aspect of the economy. As a lawyer specialising in food transactions, it is clear that 2009 will be a very difficult year for mainstream corporate finance activity.

Lincolnshire bakery Welbourne’s has won a contract to supply John Lewis’ Food Hall in Oxford Street with its Special Plum Bread.

The deal came about after representatives from the bakery visited the Restaurant Show in October 2008.

Four more café chains have agreed to work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to promote healthier eating through their shops.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) will rise to £5.80 per hour from October, for workers aged 22 and over, the government has announced this week. It is a 7p increase per hour on the current rate of £5.73 – a rise of 1.2%.

Greggs has continued to defy the downturn after its latest figures showed total group sales were up 5.2% for the 19 weeks to 9 May.

You only have until Friday 15 May to get your entries in for the Baking Industry Awards, so send them in now! Make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to shine at the industry’s most prestigious annual event. This year’s awards will be held at the Park Lane Hilton in London on 8 September and will be hosted by comedy legend Ronnie Corbett.

Hovis has continued to build its market share according to Premier Foods’ interim results for the 16 weeks to 25 April 2009.

In its Hovis division, sales in its baking business were up 6% on the comparable period in 2008, due to strong branded sales growth offsetting lower volumes of own-label bread.

Walkers has announced that Builder’s Breakfast is the winner of its ‘Do us a flavour’ competition and will now become a permanent flavour in the Walkers range.

Consumers are in favour of a single front-of-pack (FOP) labelling scheme, according to the results of a research project by the Project Management Panel, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency.

European frozen bakery supplier Lantmännen Unibake has increased its share in Bakehouse, and now has a majority stake in the bake-off supplier.

Pork Pie manufacturer Pork Farms is seeking voluntary redundancies for up to 90 of its 300 employees.

l Why use a bed when you can sleep on inflatable toast?... tinyurl.com/dhjokz l What the cast of cult TV show Lost looks like in cake form... tinyurl.com/d47q47 l You've got a sandwich, you've got an office scanner, now put the two together and you have... scanwiches.com l Heinz Ketchup's gift to Canada to commemorate its centennial was a ketchup cake... tinyurl.com/d5crk2

"An investigation by Which? shows that a single Tesco jam doughnut contains 5.7mg [of saturated fat]"

Can you guess who this Mona Lisa-esque slice of pizza art is meant to represent? Courtesy of North West baker Sayers, this pepperoni, ham and pineapple-topped oval pizza is a stunning example of what one can achieve with a creative eye, a sprinkle of magic dust, and no doubt a bit of heel-kicking slack time around the bakery.

The 2009 version of this small automatic dough dividing and rounding machine is on the market. The König Mini Rex is now available to through European Process Plant featuring enhancements to the design of the dividing and rounding system, which mean the weight range has been extended to 13g-140g.

Flexibility seems to be the order of the day. The new Vemag dough divider line by Reiser claims to offer greater weight accuracy, versatility and adaptability to handle a range of breads, rolls, buns and English muffins.

Well, newish - it was first shown last year at Europain in Paris and at Interpack in Düsseldorf. This industrial bread line from Rondo is designed to meet the trend for making bread from a dough band. Dividers have dominated for many years, but some industrial bakers have been turning towards production from a continuous dough band.

Turning your hand to a bit of DIY is the obvious riposte to the credit crunch. From bringing your own sandwiches to work to washing the car yourself, there are savings to be made if you are prepared to suffer a little inconvenience.

Readers, please picture the following scene - with the caveat that it's not for the faint-hearted, and British Baker cannot be held responsible for any tears which might be shed: "We found an outstanding sandwich shop in the centre of Leeds. The woman was actually cutting the chicken off the bone. It was hot and she was putting it into the sandwich. She was cutting the avocado fresh. It was emotional."

It is an unfortunate fact that bakers are being driven to manufacture products with less choice of margarines and fats and are being called upon, more than ever, to use their innovative and creative skills to turn bland ingredients into tasty, attractive bakery products. Saturated fats are the latest target of the Food Standards Agency, following the demonising of trans-fats of recent years, which have since been eradicated from most products.

The Village Bakery in Melmerby is an organic operation in every sense of the word. Producing a wide range of bakery products, including wheat, gluten and dairy-free organic ranges, its commitment to standards and innovative branding won over the judges at last year's Baking Industry Awards, which saw it take home The Organic Award, sponsored by Asda.

National Craft Bakers' Week, 8-13 June, is a great way to engage with your local community, generate positive media coverage and showcase your products. So why not get involved by organising a visit to a local school where a demonstration and friendly chat could inspire youngsters and interest local media in a photo opportunity?

Saffron is a very expensive spice that comes from the saffron crocus. In order to obtain 500g of saffron, approximately 250,000 flowers are harvested by hand. Luckily, since it is so expensive, a small amount goes a long way. It is best to buy it in filament form but it is also available powdered. It can be prepared by either grinding in a pestle and mortar or by steeping in a small amount of boiling water for a few minutes. Although most famously used in rice dishes such as paella it also has uses in baking.

Umer Ashraf is a young entrepreneur who owns the Glasgow-based iCafe chain of shops. He recently opened smoothie and juice bar Paradise Bay in Oban, on Scotland's west coast

Ingredients company, Pecan Deluxe Candy has launched a range of healthier products which are lower in salt and fat.

Foodservice supplier Brakes has expanded its portfolio of mini savoury buffet items, with seven new canapés developed as a twist on traditional British recipes. Varieties include Brakes Mini Cottage Pie, a shortcrust pastry case filled with minced beef and onion gravy, topped with a rosette of Cheddar and chive mash.

By Georgina Wild, marketing manager for market research firm him!

Chilled and frozen manufacturer Giles Foods has added limited-edition Tomato and Chilli dough balls to its standard range.

McVitie's Cake Company has launched a range of mini croissants, featuring a chocolate or strawberry filling.

Earlier this month it was announced that 18 catering companies and restaurants, including the likes of Pret A Manger and Subway, are to display the calorie content of their products in-store. This move is the first of its kind and has been brought about through the joint efforts of the Foods Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department of Health. The aim is to help consumers make more informed choices about the food they buy, but will it affect consumers' purchasing decisions? And will other bakery retailers be getting involved?

== Matthew May ==

Ontario-based Canada Bread's UK subsidiary, speciality bread and bagel manufacturer Maple Leaf Bakery UK, has seen a drop in earnings for the first quarter to 31 March, 2009.

Coffee shop bosses are optimistic that cautious customers will soon be returning for their regular caffeine fix again.

Marks & Spencer sandwich supplier Uniq reported falling sales in the first three months of the year, down 4.9% on the same period in 2008.

Office workers in the north of England and Scotland are the most likely to buy lunch in a bakery (13%), followed by those in the Midlands and Wales (11%) and the South (6%).

== Costa considers deals ==

Consumer lobby group Which? reckons several bakery products could legally carry health and nutritional claims if proposed EC regulation gets the thumbs-up.

An Italian coffee shop chain hopes to bring 'la dolce vita' to the UK, with a plan to open its first store in London later this year.

== Ulrick & Short gains SA accreditation ==

A new Upper Crust prefab wheel-in kiosk has gone on trial at London Bridge station, as parent SSP experiments with formats.

Bakers are being attracted into previously premium-value retail units, such as train stations, as the recession brings about plummeting rents and rent-free deals.

Artisan craft bakery Winnie's has been using bluetooth technology in a fresh bid to target nearby consumers.

== Doughnut Week ==

Asda hopes to attract more upmarket shoppers with its new artisan breads. The 14-strong stone-baked range includes a Mediterranean Loaf, Green Olive Loaf, Date & Maple Loaf, Rustic White Loaf, Malt and 6-seeded loaf, Sunflower & Honey Loaf, Ciabatta and Pain de Campagne.

British Baker is thrilled to announce that acclaimed comedian Ronnie Corbett is to host this year's Baking Industry Awards, on 8 September at the Park Lane Hilton, London.

New research commissioned by the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) has revealed that the bakery sector is under-playing the provenance card in product marketing.

The British Society of Baking's (BSB) annual conference is to take place on Tuesday 16 June at the Ardencote Manor Hotel, Claverdon, Warwick.

Press reports claiming that enzymes used in industrial breadmaking were "not fit for vegetarians" have been refuted as "confused" and "unfounded" by the industry.

== BIA deadline: 15 May ==

Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc has returned after a long absence to spearhead a major relaunch of the Maison Blanc patisserie chain.

Blanc started the company in 1981 and now aims to take it back to basics as a consultant chef, offering quality French bread and patisserie. Each store will offer breakfast, light lunches and afternoon tea.

Fuller’s Quality Bakers in Yorkshire was nearly bankrputed by an employee, who stole almost £12,000, a court has found.

Bakeries that employ migrant workers are beginning to plug employment gaps by recruiting closer to home, with one employment agency seeing a “dramatic drop” in the number of Eastern European bakers on its books.

Hovis Best of Both is beefing up its nutritional claims by telling shoppers that two slices contain as much calcium as a glass of milk.

The owners of a major sandwich business based in Wiltshire have indicated that it may have to close as it is no longer economically viable.

A traditional Northumberland bakery has enjoyed its best year of trading in its 18-year history. Haltwhistle-based Border Homebake, which specialises in traditional tray bakes, was launched by Justine Carruthers in a disused dairy building, and now employs 12 staff, turning over £200,000 a year.

Don't forget to enter the Baking Industry Awards. New deadline is May 15.