All are invited to a visit to wholesaler Bako London's Wimbledon premises, organised by London Region of the National Association of Master Bakers (NA), LASER.

The UK egg industry will tighten up on traceability, salmonella risk and quality of egg supply this month, after beefing up its code of practice. The controls will also address high-profile incidences of non-free-range eggs being passed off as free-range.

Early harvested wheat samples show a reduction in quality on last year, the first set of results for this season from the Home Grown Cereals Authority indicate.

RHM-owner Premier Foods has called for a shake-up in logistics in the baking industry, attacking existing "inefficient and environmentally unfriendly distribution methods" which "delivered poor customer service".

n High street spending continued to grow in the first half of August, but at the slowest rate since last November, the CBI said in its latest Distributive Trades Survey this week. Some 42% of retailers said year-on-year sales volumes were up in August, while 26% said they were down.

Polish company T&W Bakeries makes a range of Baltona breads in dark, garlic, caraway and poppy variants. It also makes sunflower and plum breads, as well as 100% rye breads and Polish sweets and rolls. All its breads are made with sourdough.

The combination of chocolate and poppy seeds may sound odd, but these biscuits are great, not too sweet and with a lovely crunchy texture. Poppy seeds are not widely used in traditional British bakery or cookery, although their nutty crunch has long been recognised by bakers in Eastern Europe.