If you are going to enter a market where there are already major players you have to be different, and according to Paul Morrow, MD of Bakels, its new Gourmet Filled Biscuits are just that.

“It is also a product that fits the profile for convenience and pleasure, which was outlined as a key consumer trend at the recent Baking Industry Summit,” he adds.

The Bicester-based company, which supplies bakery ingredients, and frozen and chilled products believes the new launch fits with its strategy of supplying part-baked products, so bakers have the opportunity to sell the finished biscuits to customers in cafés or over the counter as their own.

Snack size

The biscuits come in four flavours: cherry, pecan latté, mint, and fruit mince treat. Smaller than most biscuits or cookies and with a cookie-like texture, the biscuits are available in a special snack size of 32g as opposed to the usual size of 50-60g. They are chewy with a filled centre.

Bakels is part of a worldwide foundation, with manufacturing sites all over the globe, so profits are ploughed back into investment and ideas are shared globally.

“The Australian arm of Bakels pioneered these biscuits and has invested in a high-capacity line to produce them,” says Mr Morrow.

But does importing the biscuits from Australia make them more expensive for the UK market? Mr Morrow asserts that it does not even add as much as 1p to the product. And he points out that a container-full can be made in one eight-hour shift. Before launching them, he worked with bakery wholesaler Bako to trial them with UK bakers, where they proved very successful, he says.

The biscuits only need to be heated for 20 minutes, so no skill is required. The suggested positioning for impulse sales is by the till and a free point-of-sale container is available.