Briefs

n Latest companies to sign up as exhibitors at next year’s Baking Industry Exhibition include Pentagram, HMP Lindholme and

Stable Micro Systems. BIE08 takes place at Birmingham’s NEC on 6-9 April 2008.

n Administrators report that talks with a buyer for the Hull-based Skeltons bakery chain are continuing. Meanwhile, Martin’s Cakes & Desserts in Manchester has taken on some of the business’ wholesale accounts.

n Shipton Mill, near Tetbury, is among suppliers for the flagship Whole Foods Market superstore, which opens in Kensington, London on 6 June.

n Morrisons’ The Best Chocolate Orange Pudding, supplied by Farmhouse Fare, was the winner in the desserts category at The Grocer Own-Label Excellence ceremony, held in London last month. La Fornaia, Fletchers Bakeries and Bells of Lazonby were among other winners at the event.

n Acquisition vehicle Zetar has bought snacks company Britannia in a deal worth around £27.7m. Britannia, based in Teeside, manufactures biscuits, cereals and snacks. Zetar’s biggest business is Kinnerton Group, which makes novelty and niche chocolate confectionery.

n Nottingham company Churchill Food Products took a first prize at the recent Food & Drink Forum and the East Midlands Development Agency Food & Drink Forum Innovation and Quality event. It was commended for its all-day breakfast baguette, particularly for its work in producing a baguette with a three- day rather than a one-day shelf life.