All British Baker articles in May 2008 – Page 5
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Survival strategies
The cost of basic ingredients used in bakery has risen extraordinarily over the past year.Poor wheat harvests, increased production of biofuels and demand from China have helped to push commodity prices ever higher. The price of wheat increased by 88% during 2007, and has gone up by another 5% since ...
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Supersize PV
When new MD Paul May talks about an "aggressive" growth strategy for Patisserie Valerie (PV), the word jars somewhat with one’s perceptions of the shops. Original owner Madame Valerie was quite happy with one store thank-you-very-much, and it took over 60 years before PV opened its second store. Since 1987, ...
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Pizza perfection
If you’re not making them already, pizza is an ideal way to add value to your product range.A great pizza base is made from a yeasted dough with as high a percentage water content as possible, coupled with long fermentation.You should aim to get 75-80% water (on ...
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The new McCoy’s
United Biscuits is relaunching its McCoy’s Tortillas snack range with two new flavours in time to capitalise on the male snack buying market for the Euro 2008 tournament. The ridged snacks will be available in 50g bags in Hot Chilli and Nachos Cheese flavours. The Tortillas range was previously sold ...
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Northern lights
Only in its third year, Tesco’s latest ’Enjoy the Taste of Scotland’ has already become the biggest Scotland-only food and drink show in the UK and probably the world, says its initiator and Tesco’s senior buyer for Scotland, Sarah Mackie.Previously staged in Edin-burgh, this year’s event took place in George ...
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Students at large
Walking into a room full of baked goods - rolls, Viennoiserie, Granary and Hovis loaves, exquisitely decorated cakes and yes, the occasional bread which looks a bit lopsided or lacks spring - is quite a moving a experience. Especially when everything has been created by keen and competitive students.High turnoutA ...
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Lantmannen opens Stateside plant
Lantmannen Unibake, Europe’s leading supplier of frozen bakery products, has established its first production facility in the USA, following the purchase of bakery Euro-Bake, based in Florida.Lantmannen experienced a 25% growth in sales in the US in 2007, and its new premises will enable it to reach its ...
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Patisserie Valerie reveals major international plans
Patisserie Valerie is to franchise its offering to overseas markets, following a deal that has established an undisclosed franchise agent in the Middle East.The first Middle Eastern store will appear next year, followed by "an aggressive roll-out of 15 stores in three years", said Paul May, MD of Patisserie Holdings, ...
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No substitute for hard work
I was once asked to speak at a school and have always regretted not saying what I truly felt and telling the kids what life is really like. If I had dared to do so, it might have gone something like this:"Let’s face it, life is not fair ...
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Solo shows strong hand
Solo Cup Europe has launched DeliLite, a range of lightweight PET containers and lids, which it says "offer superb strength, durability and clarity".Containers are available in five versions: 217ml, 279ml, 374ml, 550ml and 700ml. There are two corresponding lids - one fits the three smaller containers while the other fits ...
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Steady as she goes
At the annual National Association of Master Bakers conference in Blackpool members heard that the decline in membership that has taken place over recent years has been halted.While 33 members had been lost due to retirements, closures and sales of businesses, 37 new members had been gained. Although it is ...
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The suppliers: what do I get?
== Island Bakery Organics ==The Taste of Scotland event came at an important time in Tesco’s relationship with Island Bakery Organics from the Isle of Mull. Having supplied a number of the retailer’s stores in London for a little over a year, the company has just begun to supply its ...
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Fruity style for summer
The English Cheesecake Company has added new summer flavours to its range of cheesecakes. Summer Berry, Mango Passion Fruit and Blackcurrant with White Chocolate Shavings are new for summer 2008.The three cheesecakes join existing varieties Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Split and Sicilian Lemon.The company, which was established in 1992, supplies foodservice ...
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A flavour of London Pride
Peter’s Food Service and London brewer Fuller’s have teamed up to launch a steak and ale pie a new addition to Peter’s Regency range. The pie, which features a blend of Peter’s pastry and Fuller’s London Pride ale, has been development over the past few months and was launched at ...
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Filling the gap
Premium cakes have enjoyed juicy growth over the last two years, but with food inflation, house price fears and financial instability, will the top-end market hit the skids? When it comes to tightening the belt, it helps if you don’t eat luxurious cakes. But that’s enough of the diet tips. ...
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Lainox gets in faster lane
Lainox Heart has launched a combi-oven range with three key functions.The ovens can be used via automatic and manual modes, and also have a USB connection, so recipes, programmes and software can be downloaded to the oven. The Lainox Heart offers a six-speed fan, Autoclima feature, which controls conditions ...
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Fair game for puds
Pudding Lane’s new Chocolate & Orange Log and Chocolate Rum & Raisin Pudding Log, launched earlier this year, will feature at the 2008 Speciality & Fine Food Fair.Handmade by Pudding Lane in Australia and distributed in the UK by Porter Foods, Pudding Lane’s new variants join a stable of handmade ...
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Italian flair for Dublin
A new Italian-style bakery, Il Valen-tino’s, in Dublin, has been trading since early this year. Owner Owen Doorly spent 13 years in Italy, working mainly on coffee roasting, and returned home to start up this bakery.Set beneath the very contemporary style ground floor shop and café, beside Grand Canal Harbour, ...
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Starbucks eyes international growth, as US store openings slow down
Starbucks will turn its focus away from the US by opening more stores internationally from 2009 until 2011.While it aims to open "significantly fewer stores in the US", at around 250 a year, it will ramp up its expansion in other countries. The coffee chain plans to open 1,050 outlets ...
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Hit the deck
== 1 I am a small independent sandwich shop operator with limited kitchen space. I buy in mostly bake-off products, so I require a deck oven that is well-suited to baking-off baguettes and making pizzas, but it has to be simple to use. ==Firstly, don’t dither, be more ...