A Derbyshire bakery is gearing up to prepare almost 15,000 puddings for one of Japan’s largest department stores.
Bloomers Craft Bakery in Bakewell was approached earlier this year to supply 14,800 Original Bakewell Puddings to East Asian retailer Hankyu for its British Food Festival, which takes place every October in Hakata and Osaka.
Owners Richard Nealon and Esplin Chapman said they were “delighted and proud” of the deal and added they were looking forward to “getting to understand the Japanese food scene and retail environment”.
However, they admitted the quantity of the order initially came “as a bit of a shock”.
The business will bake 1,000 puddings at a time before sending them to food storage and packaging specialist Holdsworth Foods in Tideswell.
Once complete, the full order will be sent frozen in a sea container 12,000 nautical miles to Japan from Southampton. The journey will take up to 40 days, with an additional 10 days for the puddings to clear customs.
Nealon and his head baker will travel out to Japan in October for the five-day festival in Hakata and seven-day celebration in Osaka.
“There are still a few things left to be confirmed - getting all the documentation ready for customs has been very challenging but we’ve already sent a test package of puddings a few days ago just to see how they fare,” Nealon added.
“Once we have customs clearance, we’ll get the green light and start on the production. The target is to get the order baked, frozen and ready to be shipped out during the first week in August. The whole experience really has been wonderful so far, and we can’t wait to travel to Japan to discover how the Japanese people like our authentic pudding.”
Made from puff pastry, the pudding contains a thin layer of strawberry jam and is topped with an almond custard.
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