Welsh firm The Village Bakery is ramping up production of Welsh cakes in time for St David’s Day, after clinching two major new deals.

The Village Bakery’s griddle cakes are currently sold in 300 Tesco supermarkets and the new deal means that they will now supply a total of 800 Tesco stores.

Additionally, the Welsh cakes have just been launched in China, where they are proving extremely popular.

The Village Bakery managing director Robin Jones said: “We launched in China and I gather they’re proving very popular there too. Closer to home, the fact that they are now going to be sold in 800 Tesco stores is great news.”

6.5m Welsh cakes a year

The family-run firm currently makes 6.5m Welsh cakes a year. They are made using a traditional recipe that has been only slightly adapted to suit modern production methods.

Jones added: “We decided to make the Welsh cakes with an all-butter recipe, which is quite unique. I think that helps the flavour. Also, there is extra salt in Welsh butter and I think that complements the Welsh cake.

“We started off on a very small scale, making a couple of hundred a day, and it has just grown and grown over the years.”

The Village Bakery’s Welsh cakes are also sold in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. Last month, the company applied for planning permission to build a new £16m plant.