Tesco has donated a lorry load of bakery equipment – including mixers, moulders, and ovens – as part of a mission to help rebuild the baking industry in Ukraine.
The equipment will be used to help bakeries and people that have been affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the Bake4Ukraine humanitarian mission.
Bake4Ukraine was initially started by Zeelandia Ukraine MD Andriy Vasylenko to keep thousands of people affected by the war fed with soup and freshly baked bread. Today, the mission is to focus on collecting, renovating, and supplying equipment to bakeries that were destroyed or damaged by the war, refugees that have business or bakery skills but no resources to invest in equipment, and charity organisations who are providing food and would like to start producing bread as part of this.
“Support provided by Tesco for some bakers will mean the possibility of starting production activities after losing everything they had,” Vasylenko explained. “For other bakers it will give support to expand own activities and help themselves to survive in most dramatic times of Ukraine.
“Equipment from the UK will be used to process available agricultural materials and create added value products ready for consumption. Local flour, yeast, sugar, etc will be used to produce bread and pastry products for local communities and provide jobs to people,” Vasylenko added.
Tesco steps up
Tesco, which has a “huge equipment portfolio” thanks to the 2,500 in-store bakery (ISB) operations across its estate, worked with Zeelandia, as well as equipment partners Mono and Millers Vanguard on the project.
“We have robust processes in place for re-purposing and refurbishing our bakery equipment wherever possible but occasionally we will have equipment that is no longer required, and we are allocating this for use in bakeries that have been impacted by the war in Ukraine,” Tesco bakery specialist for ISB John Lamper told British Baker.
“We have donated multiple equipment types that would support all aspects of bakery production in Ukraine – mixers, dividers, moulders, and ovens – the amount of equipment has filled an entire lorry and will help provide food for hundreds of people in towns and villages.”
Lamper and AJ Bailey from Tesco’s equipment technical team worked closely with the retailer’s internal team and external partners to identify, allocate and donate the assets. Simon Moon at Mono and Lee Gibson at Millers Vanguard were key, Lamper noted, in terms of supporting the logistical aspect of assembling and then delivering the lorry load of equipment.
The equipment was initially delivered to Zeelandia’s site in Colchester before being transported to Ukraine, where it arrived last week. From there, Vasylenko will work with his team to assess the equipment and allocate it based on requirements across the country. The kit will be assessed by engineers in Ukraine and then installed ready for use by local bakeries.
The video below gives an insight into the challenges Vasylenko and his team are up against as he visits a recently destroyed bakery in southern Ukraine.
Should you wish to donate bakery equipment to the Bake4Ukraine mission, please contact David Amos at Zeelandia via David.Amos@zeelandia.co.uk.
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