Bakels Group MDs visit UK to see investment

A senior management team from Bakels Group came to the UK last week to view British Bakels latest £500,000 baking centre. 

The baking centre is phase two of a £2.5m investment, which saw it increase production lines and build the site.

The company hosted the managing directors of its 35 sister companies, and showcased new products to boost global exports.

Paul Morrow, UK managing director, said: “We were delighted to host the annual managing directors’ conference to show colleagues our new Baking Centre and the range of exciting new products and concepts being developed.

“We were also able to show them phase one, which saw the introduction of five major lines of plant and equipment. This brings spend on the factory to more than £20m since we began manufacturing at Bicester in the mid-1990s.”

The baking centre opened at the Bicester Headquarters in Oxfordshire and consists of a mini bread plant, six varieties of oven, a range of processing equipment for bread and confectionery products, an audio-visual system and a presentation suite.

The centre was launched to allow Bakels to tighten its relationship with customers. The facility can be used to gain new product development expertise to develop concepts.

Gluten free lines

Greg Woodhead, product development manager, said: “We are a centre of excellence in the Bakels Group, thanks to this investment. The senior management team was especially interested in the new range of gluten-free bread mixes, which are being launched to consumers. Also of interest was the range of artisan bread mixes, cupcakes, cake recipes and Multiseed.

“We were delighted with the interest shown in our gluten-free bread mixes. These are a new generation of gluten-free breads, which taste like normal breads, unlike many current products in this category which look and feel brick-like and are not pleasant to eat. We feel this product will be a real winner.”

British Bakels’ Bicester site produces 3,000 tonnes of ingredients with a 180-plus workforce. Ingredients are then exported to Europe and the Americas.