All British Baker articles in May 2009

View all stories from this issue.

  • News

    Cake decoration company’s sales skyrocket

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Warrington-based company Windsor CakeCraft has seen its internet sales increase 2,300% as the credit crunch encourages consumers to decorate their own celebration cakes.

  • News

    Pork Farms to display British Lion egg logo

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Pork Farms has become the first major retail brand to display the British Lion egg products mark on-pack.

  • News

    Northern Foods sees strong performance in bakery

    2009-05-28T00:00:00Z

    Northern Foods announced a “strong performance” in its Bakery division in its full year results to 28 March 2009.

  • News

    In my world

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Tom Herbert is a fifth-generation baker and director of Hobbs House Bakery, a multi-award-winning craft bakery, based in Gloucestershire"When are you opening?" I have fielded this question a hundred times as tradesmen in high-visibility jackets squat and stretch all over our new shop in Cirencester. The soft opening ...

  • News

    A way with words

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    As craft bakers, along with other independent retailers, you may be feeling the pinch. Cost-cutting is important and, at times like these, it seems an easy option to stop spending time or money on marketing and publicity. But this would be a mistake. Your customers, the consumers, are also ...

  • News

    Students’ success

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Competitions, karaoke and camaraderie were just a few of the ingredients that went into an eventful May Bank Holiday weekend at the Alliance of Bakery Students and Trainees’ (ABST) conference in Torquay.Held at the Toorak Hotel, there were a few moments during the Friday night dinner, when the conference looked ...

  • News

    Spring into the summer

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Summer is just around the corner, which means it’s time to review your beverage and snacking offer. As you know, when the sun shines, our sales are often affected and not always to our benefit. So let’s explore a ’weather friendly’ menu. With temperatures rising, hot drinks will fall, so ...

  • News

    In Short

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Don’t forget to send in your entries for The In-Store Bakery Award for the chance to shine at this year’s Baking Industry Awards. The deadline is 1 June, so don’t delay, get your forms in now. To download entry forms visit bakeryawards.co.uk or contact Helen Law on 01293 846587 or ...

  • News

    In Short

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    == Greggs’ sales up ==Greggs’ latest figures showed total group sales were up 5.2% for the 19 weeks to 9 May. The bakery retailer also saw like-for-like sales grow 2% in the same period. It "enjoyed a successful Easter" having sold over 2.3 million hot cross buns so far ...

  • News

    In Short

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    == Employee cleared ==In our 22 August 2008 issue we published a story on bakery employee Paul Bentley, charged with attempting to contaminate food with peanuts at Pork Farms in Nottingham. Bentley was found not guilty of possessing material for contamination on all charges by Judge John Stokes on 24 ...

  • News

    In Short

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    == Tesco’s Genius move ==Recently launched gluten-free bread brand Genius is to launch on the shelves of Tesco from mid-May. Available in brown and white varieties, it is made with natural ingredients, and was invented by trained chef and co-author of Leith’s Techniques Bible Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, who wanted to create ...

  • News

    Report

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Consumers are in favour of a single front-of-pack (FOP) labelling scheme, according to the results of a research project by the Project Management Panel, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency.The aim of the study, led by an independent group of experts, was to evaluate the impact of different FOP nutritional ...

  • News

    Seed pricing

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Pine nuts: The problem of shorter supply out of China has been exacerbated by the ending of any volumes being allowed to be imported from neighbouring former Soviet Union states, leaving China stranded, with insufficient stocks to meet its existing and new forward demand. We would advise manufacturers to reverse ...

  • News

    Mouthing off

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Customer: "So it’ll be either you or Joanna Lumley running the country next?" Vince Cable: "Hopefully me AND Joanna Lumley" - Following a tough week for MPs embroiled in the expenses scandal, squeaky-clean Lib Dem treasury spokesman Vince Cable, approached by a customer at The Cavan Bakery, eyes a ...

  • News

    Minimum wage to rise from October

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    The National Minimum Wage will rise to £5.80 per hour from October this year, for workers aged 22 and over, the government announced last week. This is a 7p increase per hour on the current rate of £5.73 - a rise of 1.2%.For 18- to 22-year-olds the rate will increase ...

  • News

    Missing out on a Mini

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    The truth of the phrase "you’ve got to be in it to win it" has never been more cruelly exposed - at least in the world of bakery - than it was last week at Bako London’s showcase event to mark its 50th anniversary.Let’s set the scene. Bako, in its ...

  • News

    Spice rack: Ginger

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Ginger has been used in British baking for many years in gingerbreads, ginger cakes, parkins and ginger snaps. Although you can occasionally use grated fresh root ginger in cakes and biscuits, ground ginger is more generally used and, in some recipes, the flavour of ginger can be ...

  • News

    Sandwich forum

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Following on from BB’s sandwich forum in 8 May issue, we ask:How do you increase the amount your customers spend with you?MY: By offering great value meal deals - this drives both extra eat-in and take away sales. Staff will also ask customers if they would like a drink with ...

  • News

    Forfars finds time-saver

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Sussex bakery chain Forfars has reduced costs and man-hours after introducing the Toshiba B-SV4D compact desktop printers and Solo software from KTEC to print labels. With label formats stored on the printers, the time-consuming manual labelling process was replaced by printing on demand. The KTEC solution is USB-based, so any ...

  • News

    Eye to the future

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Benier - how do you pronounce it? Well, it’s not ’benny-er’, though many of us may have thought so. It’s more like ’ben ear’ and MD David Marsh has a useful way of helping customers and hapless journalists remember. He says we should just think of the phrase ’bin ’ere, ...