Ireland’s Flour Confectioners and Bakers Association (FCBA) is to make a fresh start with a new committee, after a three-year period of inactivity.

The Association held an Emergency General Meeting on 1 March to approve the new committee, which includes president Sean Stafford, MD, Staffords Bakery; secretary Ger Cunningham, national sales manager at Ireks, Ireland; and treasurer Con McGrath, MD, CMG Packaging. "Today is about a fresh start, but everybody has to be a part of it," said Stafford at the meeting.

Plans are underway for an immediate meeting with the new Department of Baking Technology chair Eugene Kane, and for a future visit to the school’s new facilities, and to consult on training and internships. The department, formerly the National Bakery School, has relocated to the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, part of the Dublin Institute of Technology.

The new committee intends to set up a website, offer business advice/seminars to members, and host a golf tournament to raise funds. Members at the meeting raised the issue of the promotion of bread and its health benefits nationally. There was also support for the FCBA to speak on behalf of members in relation to salt reduction and regulation.