Edinburgh-based Mimi’s Bakehouse has been crowned Scottish Baker of the Year 2023/24.
The business was named overall winner ahead of 70 other bakeries.
The second generation-run family business has six locations in and around Edinburgh from which it sells a selection of sweet treats including traybakes, celebration cakes and afternoon tea. It was established in 2010 by Michelle Phillips who opened a bakery cafe in Leith. From then the original site has doubled in size and Mimi’s has also added a website through which cakes can be bought.
The Mimi’s Bakehouse team collected their trophy during the Scottish Bakers annual conference and awards on 6 May at the Hilton in Glasgow.
It was the culmination of a great night for Mimi’s, which also took home other honours including the Bakery Café of the Year winner, gold in the Free-from Biscuit & Cake category, and silvers in both the Celebration Cake and Free-from Bread categories.
Organised by trade body Scottish Bakers, the hotly contested competition had seen bakers put forward up to 12 of their star products to be taste tested by 50 industry experts.
“With 630 products from 70 bakers in the running, each and every one of which was assessed for appearance, the quality of the bake and taste” said Scottish Baker of the Year ambassador Mich Turner MBE. “Mimi’s Bakehouse can be rightly proud of their win.”
Prizes were awarded not just for the best products judged by the expert panel but also for the best businesses. Along with Bakery Café of the Year, other business category winners announced at the black-tie gala event included:
- Craft Baker of the Year – Babyfaced Baker Ltd, Edinburgh
- Retail Craft Baker of the Year – J G Ross (Bakers) Ltd, Inverurie
- Wholesale Baker of the Year – Reid’s of Caithness, Thurso
Meanwhile, the customer choice award winners were:
- Bakery Café – Annie’s Bakery, Caithness
- Craft Baker – Babyfaced Baker Ltd, Edinburgh
- Retail Craft Baker – Bayne’s The Family Bakers, Lochore
- Wholesale Baker – Cakes By Rebecca, Glasgow
“Each year our judges look for the best scones, loaves, savoury items, morning rolls, individual cakes and biscuits, as well as French and Danish style pastries and free-from bread, biscuits and cakes,” said Scottish Bakers president Ian McGhee.
“The competition was once again close run. It was great to see the best iconic Scottish bakes entered alongside some fantastic new innovation on show, a real celebration of our fantastic sector.”
The full list of National Awards Gold (Best in Scotland) winners is as follows:
- Biscuit – Reid’s of Caithness, Thurso
- Bread (Yeasted) – Reid’s of Caithness, Thurso
- Bread (Sourdough) – Harry Gow Bakery, Inverness
- Individual Cake – John Gillespie & Sons Ltd, Stranraer
- Morning Roll – Peter’s Bakery, Glasgow
- Buttery – Goodfellow & Steven, Dundee
- Savoury – Nevis Bakery Ltd, Fort William
- Scone – G.H. Barnett & Son, Anstruther
- Potato Scone – Goodfellow & Steven, Dundee
- Celebration Cake – Luscious Lovelies Cakes, Falkirk
- French/Danish Pastries (Viennoiserie) – Harry Gow Bakery, Inverness
- Free-from Bread – Bavarian Bakehouse, Cumbernauld
- Free-from Biscuits & Cake – Mimi’s Bakehouse, Edinburgh
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