A regenerative wheat crop circle, fish finger iced buns, and toast-scented hair gel have all been announced by bakeries and suppliers on this most suspicious day of the year.
There’s also been proclamations of a comical rebranding, a ranch-soaked pizza, a range of sandwich sauce flavoured energy gels, and a ban to the most widely used bread making process.
Enjoy our light-hearted news round-up from this year’s April Fools celebrations across the UK baking industry:
Coughlans Bakery
Southeast bakery chain Coughlans is no stranger to jokes, having welcomed Romesh Ranganathan onboard as a co-owner in 2024.
A series of social media posts this morning announced “some big news” designed as a late birthday surprise to the TV comedian – an overnight rebranding of stores as Ranganathan Bakery. This included curated images of shop signs being changed in Romesh’s hometown of Crawley as well as in Oxted and at its latest site opened in Horsham last year.
Eurostar Commodities
A newly discovered crop circle has apparently appeared overnight in a field of regenerative wheat at the Shropshire farm of leading sustainable farmer Tim Parton. The intricate formation – featuring what experts are said to believe is an intergalactic symbol for “net zero” – marks the first recorded instance of aliens apparently selecting crops based on their environmental credentials.
The field in question is managed under regenerative principles associated with the Green Farm Collective and produces high-quality grain used in products such as RISE Re:Gen flour, which was launched by Eurostar Commodities last year.
“If you were travelling light years looking for somewhere to land, you’d probably choose a system that’s already working in harmony with nature,” said Parton. “Regenerative wheat fields are alive – full of biology, biodiversity and balanced ecosystems – so perhaps it’s no surprise they’ve picked somewhere that’s already thinking long-term about the planet.”
Firkins
West Bromwich-based bakery brand Firkins has introduced the Fish Fingers Iced Bun on its Instagram page.
It features golden, crispy battered fish fingers tucked inside a soft iced bun, layered with silky cream and finished with a playful sprinkle crunch. “Sweet meets savoury in the most indulgent, melt-in-your-mouth bite you didn’t know you needed. One bite, and it’s game over,” said Firkins.
Following a 10-year hiatus from the high street, when it focussed on selling celebration cakes online and supplying wholesale ingredients, Firkins returned to retail last August with a new bakery shop in West Bromwich Indoor Market.
Pizza Pilgrims x Wingstop UKI
Restaurant brands Pizza Pilgrims and Wingstop have joined forces on this suspicious day to launch a limited-edition pizza that ditches the tomato base entirely in favour of Wingstop’s signature ranch sauce. The ‘In Ranch We Crust’ pizza is then loaded with mozzarella, Wingstop’s Spicy Korean Q boneless chicken, house pickles and a garlic parmesan crust, before being finished with Pizza Pilgrims’ hot honey glaze, dusted with Wingstop’s Louisiana rub and served with a drizzle of even more ranch.
The collaboration arrives as Wingstop calls on UNESCO to grant ranch the same protected status enjoyed by Neapolitan pizza making. “Ranch has always been more than a dip, it’s one of the flavours that defines everything we do,” commented Dirujan Sabesan, chief brand officer at Wingstop UKI. “If pizza can get UNESCO recognition, then ranch deserves the same respect.”
Real Bread Campaign
‘UK to ban the Chorleywood Process’ was the breaking news touted by the Real Bread Campaign in an Instagram post this morning, after claiming to have received leaked information.
“Wow! After more than 17 years of successive governments showing little to no appetite for any of our proposals for a better-bread Britain, this one’s about to go further than we ever asked for or imagined,” wrote Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young.
“We champion Real Bread, the people who make it, and work towards everyone having the chance to choose it. We’ve never called for a ban on additive-laden industrial dough products, but it seems that’s what’s about to happen.”
The post noted that the majority of an estimated 11 to 13 million loaves sold every day in the UK are manufactured by the Chorleywood Process.
Subway
With the capital readying itself for the London Marathon on 26 April, sandwich chain Subway revealed it is rolling out a limited-edition range of nutrient-packed energy gels in flavours of its iconic sauces.
The new Sub-Gels are designed with endurance athletes in mind, said Subway, offering compact, easy to consume boosts made for runners who don’t want to leave flavour at the starting line.
Unlike traditional fruit-flavoured sweet gels, these new products are in savoury flavours including:
- Chipotle Southwest – a smoky, spicy kick for when the miles get mean
- Sweet Onion – a tangy-sweet hit for when energy levels begin to dip
- Honey Mustard – a balanced sweet and sharp flavour for a midrace moment of glory.
Warburtons x Only Curls
By teaming up with hair care brand Only Curls, Warburtons has created a limited-edition, bakery scented product designed to bring the old wives’ tale that “eating your crusts will make your hair curly” to life.
The Crust & Curl Defining Gel is said to produce a strong cast, enhance curl definition, and add soft volume – all with a subtle, bakery-inspired scent reminiscent of warm toast and Sunday mornings.
Warburtons cited research it supposedly commissioned that found almost a quarter (22%) of UK shoppers still associating eating crusts with curly hair. “‘Eating bread crusts makes your hair curly’ is among the most common sayings that we were told during childhood (62%), alongside ‘carrots help you see in the dark’ (89%), ‘spinach makes you strong’ (67%) and ‘you’ll get square eyes if you sit too close to the television’ (81%),” said a spokesperson.
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