Bakery Manufacturer of the Year 2024 finalists announced

Specialists in scones, Italian-style breads, and Cornish pasties have been unveiled as finalists for Bakery Manufacturer of the Year at the Baking Industry Awards 2024.

Judges of the category, sponsored by Rademaker, were looking for ambitious businesses that deliver high quality products on a large scale whilst demonstrating strong growth and a commitment to their staff and the environment.

Here are the manufacturers making the final four:

Haywood & Padgett

This family-run firm has grown from hand-rolling 100 scones for a daily market stall 37 years ago to producing six million units per week out of its Barnsley site. Now a £35m business with a workforce of 210 people, it supplies scones to most major UK retailers and various foodservice clients as well as exporting globally.

Plans are afoot to enter new Asian markets, including educating how a scone should be eaten and how it forms part of a quintessentially British afternoon tea. Some exciting new flavour combinations and snackable sizes of scones are also being worked on by the NPD team.

Haywood & Padgett continues to grow, acquiring full control of baked snack brand NibNibs last year – it is currently in the process of redeveloping its consumer-facing product range with new flavours and coatings.

Judges remarked that the production area was “noticeably relaxed” with a high level of cleanliness, with all products of excellent quality. One judge commended the firm for “maintaining the English heritage of scones”, while another said: “You can really feel the family culture permeating throughout the business”.

Montana Bakery

This plant bakery in Colnbrook near Slough claims to have chosen not to chase publicity and instead let its products do the talking. Indeed, its offerings speak volumes on the standards of production across its two adjacent sites. Premium tier focaccia, flatbreads, pizza bases and more – often incorporating a mouth-watering amount of garlic butter – are stone-baked for customers such as M&S, Aldi and Costa.

While modern machinery affords a decent level of automation, Montana still finishes some products by hand with the likes of peppers, olives and marinated onions. Large training programmes have been implemented, fostering a culture of empowerment and a shared commitment to excellence, it says.

Around 450 staff are employed at Montana, coping with seasonal demand for products such as their Garlic Butter Brioche & Camembert Wreath at Christmas, helping to lift the company to hit £57m in turnover.

Judges heralded the exceptional product quality and noted that the company’s flexibility and speed to market made it standout from competitors. One judge commented that Montana’s “focus on developing employees’ skills and knowledge is very evident”, with plans unveiled to launch a training academy, the first from German owner Martin Braun-Gruppe.

Panificio Italiano

Doubling up as a finalist in the category for the second year in a row is this independent wholesale bakery based in Iver, Buckinghamshire.

A wide range of artisan-quality products are manufactured onsite such as focaccia, ciabatta, rolls and sourdough, many of which are stone-baked inside a huge thermal oil oven (which Panificio said offers 40% better efficiency than standard ovens). Panificio supplies these either ambient or frozen to customers in the retail, foodservice, and airline sectors.

The company has made several investments over the past year, including 425kW of solar panels on the roof, a water cutting system for ciabattas, an additional cooling spiral, and a packing line. A brand-new ciabatta line is about to come online and double capacity.

It has also hired a new NPD manager and is building a new test kitchen to pave the way for future innovation, while creating apprenticeship programmes for junior managers to upskill their capabilities.

The incredibly clean and spacious bakery impressed the judges, who also admired how machinery had been installed to increase production without the need to increase workforce while also reducing risk of repetitive strain injuries. They found Panificio to demonstrate an “excellent attention to many aspects of product quality” and a key eye for sustainability.

Proper Cornish

This Bodmin-based company creates high quality savoury pastries, including Cornish pasties of course, for both own-label customers like supermarkets as well as under its own Proper Cornish brand. Its dedicated team of hand-crimpers, including many long-serving staff members, can produce around 66,000 pasties a day, while its automated line makes sausage rolls, turnovers, and slices. Vegetables are sourced from local farmers just a few miles down the road.

Interestingly, the site has no industrial ovens – all products are sent unbaked into spiral freezers and then immediately packaged for distribution. They are then baked from frozen at the destination such as in-store bakeries or at a café or kiosk.

The installation of a robotic packing system last year came in great time to facilitate the company’s biggest contract to date, supplying around 7,000 cases of savoury turnovers per week to a nationwide retail chain. Proper Cornish expects to achieve around 30% growth in sales this year, coming after a record-breaking 2023.

Judges found the business to have “an extremely robust and exciting innovation pathway” and were excited to see what new offerings it would create next. Proper Cornish’s “ability to produce a true regional product on a large commercial scale makes them unique in their field”, commented one judge.

Join us for a night of celebration

The winners will be revealed at a black-tie ceremony on Thursday 24 October at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. The ceremony, hosted by a yet-to-be-revealed celebrity, will also feature a presentation for the Outstanding Contribution to the Baking Industry, sponsored by Délifrance.

Tickets for the awards are available now via the Baking Industry Awards website. Individual tickets cost £330+VAT and a table of 10 costs £3,300+VAT.

The event includes a dazzling drinks reception, a three-course dinner with wine and coffee, and an afterparty complete with snacks and entertainment to help you celebrate into the early morning.

Get your tickets here: https://bakeryawards.co.uk/live/en/page/attend