Meet the Craft Bakery Business of the Year 2024 finalists

Two firms in Wales plus two from England make up the finalists for Craft Bakery Business of the Year at the Baking Industry Awards 2024.

Sponsored by Dawn Foods, the category seeks to reward bakeries producing craft, handmade, or bespoke items with a successful business model and well-trained staff.

Here are the four finalists:

108 the Bakery

Founded five years ago in the Hampshire town of Romsey near Southampton, this bakery states its aim to be a ‘delicious and joyful force for good’ by offering an artisanal range of seasonal and sustainable baked goods to the local community. It launched its Food Zones Model this year, which gives distinct targets for where it sources ingredients from such as 60% from within 100 miles.

The company, which was also a finalist in this category last year, operates a single production site including a retail space, with an open-plan layout allowing customers a direct view of the products being made from scratch. It specialises in long-fermented sourdough breads made from local organic or regeneratively farmed flours, as well as cakes, pastries, savouries and sandwiches. A sourdough hot cross bun was said to be extremely popular this year.

Among the 11 staff members, some that are completing apprenticeships, while a new front of house manager has helped enhance customer experience.

Judges praised the “outstanding bread, top notch sweets, and good vegan products”, while commenting the that “the team was a joy to be around” with the business “embedded in the local community”.

Henllan Bakery

This fifth-generation family business, based in the picturesque Vale of Clwyd in North Wales, supplies a range of bread, morning goods and savoury products out of its original bakery. It also operates a second site over the road where it bakes and hand finishes cakes and other sweet treats.

With a workforce of 136 employees, it strives to create consistently high quality and fresh products for over 800 wholesale customers including independent shops, restaurants, and schools, plus some national supermarket chains. Bestselling lines are the small brown sliced bread, white baps, school cakes, and sausage rolls, with a range of Stotties commissioned by Booths.

Henllan places an emphasis on using Welsh ingredients such as Halen Môn sea salt from Anglesey and locally-sourced cheese and steak. It has also made sizeable investments on equipment over the past year including a new Konig roll line, a spiral cooler, and a ‘Tray bot’ to unload hot trays from racks and return them. It remains on track to hit £10m in turnover this year.

Judges appreciated the prioritised efficiency and operational standards as well as training of staff. “They understand gaps in the market and are going for it both with products and geographical coverage,” commented one judge.

Lovingly Artisan

This creative sourdough specialist creates its gut-healthy product range, made from natural ingredients, at a bakery in Lakeland Food Park near Kendal on the edge of the Lake District.

Co-founded 14 years ago by Aidan Monks – the 2019 Baker of the Year – and his wife Catherine Connor, the Cumbrian business operates two stores at Altrincham Market and a Bread Truck (now affectionately named Florence) that it drives to farmers markets, as well as online sales. Planet-loving also plays a massive role in Lovingly Artisan’s approach, with all packaging biodegradable and customers encouraged to avoid single use.

The company currently produces over 10,000 loaves per week, and supplies wholesale to the likes of Booths, Caterite, and L’Enlcume. Sourdough varieties range from traditional white and heritage grains to flavoured offerings like Cheese & Marmite, Spiced Apple & Cinnamon, and Dark Chocolate Malt with Mediterranean Orange.

Judges found that the “passion shines through from Aidan and Catherine”, who really “know their tribe and the customers who shop with them”. The company was on “an exciting journey with some ambitious plans ahead”, noted judges, including expanding to a second location to increase production capacity by 50% and create a new retail outlet.

Pettigrew Bakeries

The family-run firm claims to be one of the pioneers of craft sourdough in Cardiff, and celebrated its eight anniversary early this year with a shop refurbishment and new upstairs café space at the Castle Arcade shopping centre.

Last summer, it added to its original bakery in the suburb of Canton with a second production unit in the Welsh capital’s central Roath area. This allowed its bakers to either specialise in patisserie and lamination at the former site, or bespoke bread at the latter.

Sourdoughs are made with organic flour over a 72-hour process, while Pettigrew uses traditional yeasted methods to create products like demi-brioche, focaccia, honey-oat spelt bread and more. It’s also proud of its pastries including the Crème Brûlée Croissant, which has proved a hit on social media.

Pettigrew’s understanding of the market and the way it uses different models for its different locations was lauded by the judges, who said that “every individual brought something to the business” and were open to ideas and change. They also liked the “really nice range of products that complemented each other”.

 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