The MD of Ardo UK, STEPHEN WAUGH, has been confirmed as president-elect of the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF). Mr Waugh will take up the presidency of the BFFF at its AGM in November this year, when Howard McEvoy steps down. Ardo is Europe’s largest frozen vegetable producer.

The MD of Ardo UK, STEPHEN WAUGH, has been confirmed as president-elect of the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF). Mr Waugh will take up the presidency of the BFFF at its AGM in November this year, when Howard McEvoy steps down. Ardo is Europe’s largest frozen vegetable producer.

A straw poll of exhibitors’ views at this year’s Food & Bake yielded a mixed response, ranging from the exasperated (“Realistically, I think this show is dead”) to the ecstatic (“It is the best show I’ve had in 20 years”).

Bettys of Harrogate.

The hotchpotch of fire safety regulations that bakeries must abide by are to be replaced by an easier-to-understand standard later this year. Originally due to come into effect in April, The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order has been delayed until October 1 to allow for the publication of essential guidance documents.

This week’s issue brings the news Harvestime’s Walsall bakery is finally out of administration after six months in limbo. For a company of the calibre of Maple Leaf Bakery to gallop in at the eleventh hour talking about expanding the existing business must be a dream come true for the 248 remaining staff at the site – as well as customers and suppliers.

- Examiner Neil Hughes is assessing bids for Dublin’s Cooke’s Bakery. The business was moved into examinership last month as a result of cashflow problems. One possible buyer is Dublin-based McCambridge Foods, which produces bread, cakes, puddings and ice cream.

A REDUNDANCY deal has been accepted by the majority of staff at Irish Pride’s Keatings Bakery in Kanturk, Co Cork, which closed on March 16, writes Ann Marie Foley.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has won government funding of £50,000 to assist members for whom English is a foreign language.

Don’t forget to register for this year’s event from May 6–13, sponsored by BakeMark. There’s a point of sale pack for all participating craft bakers with a selection of bright, eye-catching posters and banners, price tickets and counter top cards to entice customers through your door.

Stuart Gibbs of Oliver Adams and Lucy Williamson of Janes Pantry both enjoyed an all-expenses paid, one-week placement with a member company of the British Confectioners Association (BCA) in January for winning scholarships under its Baking Excellence scheme.

Allied Bakeries has closed its Reading bakery, which once employed 196 staff, following a strategic review of its UK bakery operations.

Finsbury Food Group said it is on the “right side of the line” in a competitive market as it announced a rise in sales and profits this week.

ADMINISTRATORS are in exclusive talks with a potential buyer for Birmingham baker M Firkin.

Leading scientists are reconsidering the criteria for the high, medium and low classifications for the Glycaemic Index (GI) diet, expert Professor Jeya Henry of Oxford Brookes University has revealed.

London and Wales-based wholesale and foodservice supplier Perfect Patisserie is up for sale, with a £1.75m price tag.

Maple Leaf Bakery UK says it plans to offer a range of bake-off products and sliced bread in the UK, following its acquisition of the £20m turnover former Harvestime (2005) plant bakery in Walsall last week.

Makes around 30 brownies

Following company growth over the past two years and the changing demands of the bakery market, bakery supplier Dawn Foods recently organised training for its senior executives to share information, skills, experience, knowledge and learning across Europe.

Williams Refrigeration’s (King’s Lynn, Norfolk) new modular dough retarder-provers (DRPs) are said to feature two major advances for the baker. The new Doughmaster Control panel makes the DRPs easier to use and more flexible, and the new single-piece floor makes the DRPs structurally stronger than traditional units and improves hygiene control.

Ingredients manufacturer British Bakels (Bicester, Oxfordshire) offers a range of mixes, fillings and toppings to help bakers make doughnuts.

JBS Process Engineering (Market Deeping, Peterborough) has designed a prover and cooler to meet the needs of a high-volume doughnut producer.

RHM Foodservice (Marlow, Bucks) says filling a doughnut with lemon curd, then garnishing with caster sugar and cinnamon, is a simple way to make a spicy lemon doughnut.

BakeMark UK (Wirral, Merseyside) is launching two Nestlé doughnuts – the Rolo and Toffee Crisp.

Cereform (Northampton) has re-engineered its doughnut mixes so finished product contains 25% less fat.

With demand for new doughnut flavours, shapes and ideas, Macphie (Glenbervie, Scotland) has launched 5th Avenue Lemon Icing.

Independent miller GR Wright & Sons (London) offers a US-style donut mix packed in 12kg bags.

Kitchen Range Foods (Huntingdon, Cambs) is building on its Cadbury Mini Dipping Donuts with the launch of Cadbury Twinpack Donuts.

ADM Milling’s (Brentwood, Essex) Bun Mix and Bun & Doughnut Mix and Concentrate are said to produce a variety of doughnut and bun styles, offering good texture and flavour.

Kluman & Balter (Waltham Cross, Herts) recommends adding icing and edible decorations to doughnuts to add value.

“People are switching back to doughnuts,” according to Noel Johnston. Mr Johnston is owner of the newly opened Donut Tree, a retail outlet in Lisburn’s Bow Street Mall in Northern Ireland.

Scientists believe lust has a lifespan of only two years, so thank goodness we are in the bakery business, where my best-selling lines of 20 years ago are still my top sellers today. (On a personal note, I am sure my lust lasted longer than two years, but I cannot speak on behalf of my wife Barbara!)

Online food retailing has yet to fully mature, but some forward-thinking companies are already embracing the potential of the web. While December and November last year saw one million customers shopping at Tesco’s (not exclusively food) website, the online opportunity is being tapped lower down the food chain too, by niche and specialist food ‘e-retailers’.

Q. How did you get involved with The Children’s Trust?

It will come as no surprise to bakers to know that the busiest time at this week’s Food & Bake exhibition at the NEC (March 19-22) was between the hours of 10.30am to 1.30pm; it is an early trade by profession. As I write, the show is still taking place. Whether it was ‘a good pr exercise’ for exhibitors or ‘good leads or orders’ ensued, is something we shall evaluate shortly.

British Baker is proud to support National Doughnut Week 2006 on May 6-13. All high street craft bakers can register – to do their bit for charity and reap the significant business benefits of getting involved.

Tesco’s bakery sales are now worth £1bn a year and are growing 14% annually, bakery director Tony Reed has revealed.

The British Society of Baking’s conference chairman Jean Grieves stepped down at the Society’s 50th jubilee conference this week.

more than 150 delegates attended the British Society of Baking’s 50th Jubilee conference in Birmingham this week.

- Ingredients and sugar company Tate & Lyle has formed a joint venture with an Israeli partner to build and operate a sugar plant supplying products to users in the Israeli market. This will partially replace traditional sugar imports from the Eropean Union, which will be restricted following European sugar regime reform and the WTO ruling on exports.

Sainsbury’s is targeting school leavers for an in-store Bakery Apprenticeship Scheme which it plans to roll out to all 360 of its scratch bakeries.

Chairman of the National Association of Master Bakers, Noel Grout, is pleased to announce on behalf of the association and its board that Gill Brooks-Lonicon has been appointed chief executive of the NA from November.

Aga Foodservice Group said it saw strong sales and profits in 2005. Revenue rose 15.7% to £501.8m while pre-tax profits were up 18.5% to £43m.

Kingsmill has started a promotion for its packs of white and wholemeal rolls, called Roll on Summer, designed to capitalise

Canada’s market leader in industrial baking is tipped to be pushing further into the UK with the purchase of Walsall's Harvestime (2005) bakery.

Northern Foods is likely to have to wait another 18 months for a verdict, as it takes its fight to prevent Melton Mowbray Pork Pies from gaining Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) to the European Court of Justice.

The FOOD Standards Agency has bowed to pressure from food industry bodies including the Federation of Bakers with revised targets for salt content in foods including bread. The new voluntary targets, published on Tuesday include 1.1g salt (or 430mg sodium) per 100g on pre-packed bread and rolls by 2010. Targets will be reviewed in 2008, in the light of industry progress.

The British Society of Baking’s Golden Jubilee Spring Conference, held at Food & Bake, will provide bakers with an insight into business issues affecting the whole of the industry. Speakers from Greggs, Tesco and Allied Bakeries will be among the roll call.

Escher Mixers (stand P255) has recently opened a UK office and distribution warehouse in order to deal directly with UK customers. The company holds a large stock of mixers and spare parts, which are available for immediate delivery and offer 24-hour nationwide back-up service.

Russell Finex (stand J130) will feature two new units that complement its range of powder sieves and liquid filters.

Russell Finex (stand J130) will feature two new units that complement its range of powder sieves and liquid filters.

Launching an electric deck oven specifically designed for the UK market will be European Process Plant (EPP) (stand F600). The MIWE aero C1408 has three trays per deck and will be available with one to six decks.

Whitco Catering and Bakery Equipment (stand C76) will introduce its new stainless steel finish display counters. These complement the red, green, gold and wood finish models in the range. Counters can be either stand-alone or multiplexed, with three types of glass and shelf configurations to suit bakery, sandwich bar or deli applications.

A range of branded cafe packaging will be on show from Planglow (stand J400). The range features a ‘Grab it’ bag, ‘Sip it’ ripple-wrap cup, and a ‘Munch it’ sandwich wedge. All items are produced in brown and cream colours to blend in with existing corporate colours or to help brand a product range.

Specialist paper and board packaging provider Siliconpak (stand J450) will have its first stand at Food & Bake this year. The company’s product range includes bespoke reels, sheets and die-cut shapes of differing sizes and materials, including greaseproof and vegetable parchment (with or without siliconised coatings), glassine and cakeboards.

Williams Refrigeration (stand G200) will join fellow Aga companies Mono and Bongard in showing new developments for the baking industry, including retarder-provers, provers, freezers, retail display cabinets and food preparation counters. The bakery refrigeration specialist will also show its ongoing developments in energy efficiency and food safety to meet new legislation based on HACCP principles.

Ingredients company Macphie (stand F340) will be exhibiting its range of products and offering visitors the opportunity to preview the latest additions to its portfolio. The theme of the stand is “the vital ingredient 24/7”, inspired by “on-the-go lifestyles and changing consumer trends”. Products on show will include cakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, flapjacks, wraps, pizzas, quiches and soups.

Rank Hovis (stand J201) will feature a working bakery producing a range of samples throughout the four-day show. A team of bakers will be showcasing the versatility and quality of the company’s branded flours through demonstrations in the open bakery, says the company.

Make a beeline for BB’s

A large bakery plant, with several freezer and chiller rooms using plastic strip doors to maintain the right temperature, can run into downtime and health and safety issues. This proved the case for Tyneside plant baker Greggs North East, which has 21 freezer and chill rooms.

Have you ever seen fields of sunflowers swaying gently in the summer breeze, a beautiful blend of yellow and green emboldened by dramatic black centres?

When Warburtons opened its futuristic £40m Enfield bakery in October 2003 it struck awe into rival bakers and customers. The massive high-tech automated bakery, capable of making 8,000 800g loaves an hour, set a new gold standard in efficient plant baking.

It has been a very busy week in the industry: Warburton’s opening a new bakery, and the continuing situation at Harvestime; Greggs’ results; the Competition Commission Review; Sonneveld breaking into the improvers market.

Craft bakers are celebra-ting after the announcement last week that the Competition Commission is to start a review of the grocery market.

Some 25 LASER members attended its Annual General Meeting on March 6, in Bakers Hall, London.

The decision by the Office of Fair Trading to refer the supermarket industry to the Competition Commission is a victory for the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC) and the All-Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group of MPs .

- Ingredients company Macphie has launched a new website – www.macphie.com – showcasing ingredients for bakers, foodservice operators and food manufacturers. To celebrate the launch, it is running an on-line competition to win one of five iPod nanos. Readers can log-on and register their details before April 30 for a chance to win.

ROBERT Rich, founder and chairman of Rich Products Corporation, has died, aged 92. Robert Rich invented the world’s first non-dairy whipped topping, Rich’s Whip Topping, in 1945. Based on soybean, the topping was developed because of the shortage of milk during the war years.

Wellbeing is the theme of the Biscuit Cake Chocolate and Confectionery Association’s (BCCCA’s) annual Technology Conference, which is being held in Daventry on March 30-31, 2006.

Almost all plant bread would get an amber light because of salt content, if latest Food Standards Agency (FSA) “red, amber and green” labelling criteria were applied on loaves.

- British Bakeries plans to create 200 jobs at the former Harvestime (2005) site in Leicester, which it bought out of administration last month. The site is operating at 25% capacity and one plant is fully operational, producing Hovis bread. The baker has already recruited 45 people and plans to gradually increase its capacity at the site.

Northern Foods revealed its bakery and pastry divisions had been seriously hit in the early weeks of 2006, as it announced it is starting a strategic review of its business this week.

Agri-Food group IAWS has reported a 22.6% increase in pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of January. Group pre-tax profits rose to €49.4 million (£33.9m) on sales up by 13.4% to €715m (£492m).

Retail baker Greggs reported it had been hit by a 60% year-on-year increase in energy costs, as it posted its premiminary results for 2005 last week.

A sale of Harvestime (2005)'s Walsall bakery was being delayed by a wrangle over the lease, as British Baker went to press. A buyer is waiting to take over the site, which is in administration. But the deal, which would secure 320 jobs, is being held up by the site's landlord.

Warburtons said it is 80% of the way towards national coverage as it launched it £60m "super" bakery in Tuscany Park, Wakefield, this week and revealed it is to install a second bread plant at its Enfield bakery.

A new firm, Tromp Bakery Systems (TBS) (stand J200 at Food & Bake), has been formed to supply bakery and food processing equipment from five specialist European manufacturers to the UK and Irish food industries.

Bakers looking to broaden their business can kill four birds with one stone by visiting Birmingham NEC on March 19-22. Alongside bakery showcase Food & Bake will be three other shows – Food & Drink Expo, Foodex Meatex and the Convenience Retailing Show.

Continuous baking technology group Auto-Bake (stand B370) will focus on its Serpentine baking oven – a vertical oven process that the company says provides advantages over conventional oven technologies.

Wire Belt Company (stand F602) manufactures Flat-Flex stainless steel conveyor belts. These are built of stainless steel and have an open structure, which increases product exposure and enables the easy removal of debris or washing and draining operations, says Wire Belt.

From January 2006 bakers were required to keep permanent HACCP records under a new EU directive. To help companies achieve this, Electronic Temperature Instruments (ETI) (stand B530) says it has developed a cost-effective system that is user-friendly and doesn’t sacrifice quality or accuracy.

Food & Bake will see the launch of Bake3D – a new system for the analysis of product quality and consistency from CF Controls (stand P270) where bakers can create a virtual loaf for analysis.

Tom Chandley (stand C200) will have a rack oven on display, complete with its latest BakeMate system. The microprocessor control uses touchscreen controls to recall bake, steam and temperature settings. Chandley’s rack ovens feature a lift and rotate rack loading system, which eliminates the need for ramps.

Sollich’s (stand F460) Mini Enrober will be in action at the show, coating various products with chocolate. The company will also showcase Hitech packaging solutions offer Italian flare to wrap croissants, pies or cakes.

The Silesia-Velox (stand B450) High Speed Contact Grill will be on constant demonstration at the show. All Silesia-Velox grills are available with smooth and grooved plates, in any combination desired, and come with a range of accessories.

Newsmith Stainless (stand A470) will have four machines on show: two divider-rounders from the Oddy range and two washing machines for companies with smaller requirements or limited space.

IMA Food Equipment (stand C470) will be displaying machines from the Food Tools range of traybake and cake cutters, including ultrasonic and mechanical types. Shown for the first time in the UK will be the CS-RS mechanical cutter, which can cut both tray bakes and round cakes.

Bakery equipment integrator Eurobake (stand J230) will unveil a new range of conveying, packaging and palletising equipment from Komatec, along with a range of robotic system solutions for end-of-line automation.

The Revoband Travelling Oven from Double D (stand J600) is claimed to give consistently good results making products from pizza and morning goods to craft breads and confectionery. Double D says it has invested heavily in its air flow system, which gives the user control over both top and bottom heat.

A professional magician is set to entertain visitors to Chalcroft Construction (stand X147) at Foodex-Meatex. Chalcroft designs turnkey solutions for food construction projects. The company says it works to a client’s brief within a short time frame.

American firm CH Babb (stand D300) will be showing its custom-made tunnel ovens. The company says it has moved to new premises in Raynham, just outside Boston, and is expanding its test baking facility to enable customers to carry out trials on site. CH Babb has recently completed an installation of four air impingement ovens for Avana Bakeries.

First showing for Mono.

A master-plan to boost skills in the food and drink manufacturing sector is being devised by sector skills council Improve.

A detailed insight into the wants and needs of UK consumers as they shop for fresh and pre-packed bread could help bakers improve their offer, according to new research from ingredients supplier Puratos.

Never accept statistics at face value as in this day and age they are usually slanted to put over one specific view. We are always being told about traffic deaths and the need for speed cameras. But in The Sunday Times it was reported that the AA had done a survey and found that 40% of all pedestrians killed over the age of 16 were drunk, while, at the same time, only 22% of the drivers were over the limit.

Taking over the running of three ailing bakery shops, when you are a successful wholesale-only company, because you thought the staff appeared “conscientious and caring”, may not sound like the kind of hard-nosed business decision that would impress the Alan Sugars or Donald Trumps of this world.

An association dedicated to assisting Scotland’s vast number of family businesses has officially come into being, thanks in no small measure to the drive of a prominent craft baker.

The lure of lower-cost Eastern Europe beckons. Lightbody of Hamilton has exclusively revealed to British Baker that it intends to build a £2 million factory in the Czech Republic to supply its European growth. It is also launching a joint venture in Shanghai, China.

Manufacturers of ethnic foods should consider selling in mainland Europe, due to saturation in some market sectors in the UK, says market development consultancy Food from Britain (FFB). It claims the market in Spain is growing by 30% a year, for example, and Belgium is also strong.

Welsh wholesale bakery Popty Cae Groes, based in Bethesda, Snowdonia, has regained the contract to supply supermarket Morrisons with its speciality bara brith and Welsh cakes. These had previously been delisted after Morrisons bought Safeway.

Bakery companies have become the first employers to sign up to a new Young Apprenticeship Scheme, set up by food and drink skills council Improve.

- Jenny Hudson, a former pastry chef with Claridges, will be making a cake for the first wedding anniversary of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. It will be a chocolate cake decorated with berries and chocolate swirls. Ms Hudson runs her Warwickshire based company, Sweet As, as an on-line operation (www.sweet-as.co.uk). She started the business with assistance from The Prince's Trust and plans to open a shop in the near future.

On April 28, thousands of people around the country will host an MS Cake Break party to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Scottish wholesale and retail bakery Kindness Bakers says sales are up since it rebranded its two shops under the Spar fascia. The family bakery's shops in New Deer and Maud Aberdeenshire, previously traded under the Mace fascia for 15 years, but have just officially launches as Spar. Sales have increased since the change due to an enhanced range, bakery manager Mark Kindness told British Baker.

Russian pre-packed bakery specialist Harry's has reopened a production plant in Russia which burned down in 2004.

Bakery supplier Rich Pro-ducts is rationalising its range in the UK, following its acquisition of craft business David Powell Bakeries in June 2005.

Wholesale bakery The Bread Factory has opened its new 18,000sq ft bakery, after a year of planning and six months of building. The company, which won British Baker's Speciality Bread Award in 2005 (sponsored by Tesco), has moved its three bakeries from Stanmore and Park Royal in London to one Hendon plant. Trading director Tom Molnar said the £1.5 million investment had allowed the company to bring all its talented bakers together, to share expertise and create new products.

Some 300 workers at the Jacobs Biscuits plant in Dublin have voted in favour of a survival plan that will mean significant changes in work practices after an ultimatum from management, writes Hugh Oram.

A bakery assistant has reached a settlement with a bakery in Gloucestershire after she was dismissed because she was a diabetic.

After basing itself for more than seven decades in Falkirk town centre, Mathiesons, with 25 retail outlets and nine restaurants and cafés, has completed a move to an extensive new bakery at nearby Central Business Park, writes Ian Martin.

Tesco bakery director Tony Reed will speak about Tesco bakery and new opportunities at the British Society of Baking’s (BSB) Spring Conference later this month.

Scottish cake company Lightbody of Hamilton is to build a £2m factory in the Czech Republic and launch joint ventures in Asia and America, in a global expansion.

Baking industry giants are to share their professional experience with delegates at the British Society of Baking’s Golden Jubilee Spring Conference, at Food & Bake 2006 on March 20-21.

Over 14,600 visitors attended Food & Bake in 2004, with visitor numbers from the in-store and plant bakery sectors increasing by 55%. This year, the organisers say the show will be bigger and better, with over 15,000sq m of stand space dedicated to ingredients and mixes, frozen and chilled foods, catering equipment, bakery machinery and hygiene and technology innovation.

Nick Sandler has an enviable job. Without having to stress about the day-to-day hassles of running a business, Nick’s remit is to be ‘creative’. In fact, it is in his job title: ‘creative chef’ for sandwich chain Pret A Manger. This means working in the kitchen all day developing original ideas using new and interesting ingredients. Lucky for some.

Evron Foods At foodservice show Hotelympia, Northern Irish firm Evron Foods explained its odd presence on the Gwir Flas pavilion, showcasing Welsh-based food companies, by revealing it has built a factory in Pontypool, South Wales, “largely to bring us closer to the UK market,” said Dominic Downey, marketing director of Evron.

Thomas the Baker, based in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, has seen eight of its section managers and charge hands achieve their NVQ Level 3 at the same time.

Name: GREGORY MOUTRY Company: MOUL–BIE UK Job title: BAKERY SALES MANAGER Location: WIGSTON, LECISESTERSHIRE

The tangled web of Finedon Mill whose tentacles have stretched from Shipton Mill to New Rathbones plant bakery and beyond turned another corner this week when Finedon ended up in court over unpaid levies (pg 5).

Rank Hovis has launched a scholarship, open to all students working towards a baking qualification or taking bakery as part of a full-time course.

The Association of Conven-ience Stores (ACS) is urging retail bakers and other independent retailers to join a high street “fight for survival”.

DESSERTS company Vittles Desserts is planning to expand its bakery in Leicester from 10,000sq ft to 14,000sq ft in the next 18 months. The £2.5m turnover company needs more space, primarily due to increased demand on the cheesecake side of its business, MD Martin Zalesny told British Baker. Vittles Desserts supplies coffee shops and own-label for foodservice customers including Booker and Delice de France.

Bakery brokerage Anglo Brokers is to be relaunched as BakeSense on April 2, to reflect its focus on the bakery market.

Bake-off supplier Mantinga is on track to report a turnover of £1.8 million to £1.9m for the year to August 2006, as it continues to expand.

Associated British Foods has warned that Allied Bakeries has achieved lower volumes than expected, as it prepares to release its interim results.

Manor Bakeries has stemmed the decline in sales of its Mr Kipling brand, but sales of its other main cake brands continue to fall, latest TNS data suggests.

- Artist Sharon Baker, 45, made a life-size model of her own body entirely out of bread for an exhibition in London's Docklands last weekend. The 5ft 3in model weighed 36 kilos before it was baked at Brooklands College, Weybridge.

Tesco’s high-profile bakery director Tony Reed has been promoted to operations director for 240 northern superstores, with a successor yet to be named.

Northern Irish bakery supplier Evron Foods is to open a manufacturing plant in Pontypool, South Wales next month to extend its reach in the UK.