While having trained baristas is no doubt a sexy addition to a high street set-up, it's not every operator's cup of tea. For those that can't afford the time to drill their staff in distinguishing their single estate Guatemalan roast from their Kopi Luwak coffee bean (that's the ultra-premium semi-digested bean that comes from cat poo worth knowing), let alone cost in the training, there are a range of entry-level and mid-market options available.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference dessert line for Christmas features 14 new or improved-recipe products, including a Belgian Chocolate Brownie Torte and a Toffee Pecan Roulade. It is also launching several Taste the Difference chocolate desserts, including: Gift Cake a square sponge base topped with a rich mousse, laced with brandy, glazed with a ganache-style topping and adorned with a handmade white chocolate ribbon; a Triple Layer Cake three layers of Belgian chocolate cake; and an all-butter vanilla cake sandwich, together with a chocolate buttercream filling and topped with chocolate icing and flakes. All its Christmas cakes, including a Taste The Difference Holly Leaf version, are new, says a spokesperson.

Don't worry if you haven't thought about Christmas yet, you won't be alone. But the months can whizz by so fast that, before you know it, it's January and you're regretting not doing enough preparation. Time to put things right and make it the most successful month ever.

Launceston-based Kensey Foods feels that the combination of its culture, facilities and the quality of its products helped it win the Bakery Food Manufacturer of the Year category, sponsored by ADM Milling, at the Baking Industry Awards last year. Part of the Samworth Brothers empire, the Cornish firm produces own-label premium chilled desserts and quiches, predominantly for Tesco, as well as a growing range of Cadbury desserts under licence, and is currently the biggest sponge pudding manufacturer in the UK, according to MD Des Kingsley.

What happens when you take one Marks & Spencers cake buyer, one product developer and three suppliers and send them to New York to look at and taste cakes for 10 days?

British Baker launched its league table of the UK's bakery, café and takeaway outlets in 2007. Since then, the big question on everyone's lips has been how long can Greggs, at number one, keep Subway at bay?

Now that the short-lived revival of white bread has passed, we can go back to writing about more interesting breads again. And it's the healthy bread category that's showing a real uplift, shifting double-digit volume growth in the last year.

Alan Pearce is certainly a modest baker. But when he says he didn't feel worthy of winning the coveted Baker of the Year award, sponsored by Vandemoortele, at the Baking Industry Awards last year, he's just being honest.

Post-war Italy was a difficult place to be. The Germans had destroyed as much as they could on their retreat in 1944. It was senseless pride. One of their prime targets had been food shops, so in many places bread had been hard to come by. A loaf often had to last several days, with family members taking turns to eat crust one day and crumb the next.

Thirty cupcakes in 90 minutes that was the constitution-challenging mission we set our judges. Insulin injections were on hand in case they fell into a diabetic coma. While the pros struggled to contain the dizzying sugar rush, they trooped on gamely through the avalanche of cake, and British Baker's health insurance was not called upon.

When is a divider not a divider? When it's a sheeter, as is the case with Rademaker's Crusto Bread line. With continuing demand for replicating the characteristic taste and structure of craft-inspired products, this divider alternative claims to lose less gas in the dough through the production of baguettes, free-standing bread and ciabatta.

Sugar glass is used on movie sets whenever glass is smashed in a film. It sets hard and is transparent, just like real glass, but is much more brittle and breaks more easily... plus it's edible and sweet!

When 31 October rolls around, do you have a selection of festively themed treats in your window or are you happy to serve your usual offerings? If the potential profits are anything to go by, bakers opting for the latter approach are missing a trick as well as a treat. For independent outlets, this is one area where you may be able to out-bake the supermarkets.

First came cupcakes, then whoopie pies; it's no wonder New York is being hailed by British retailers as inspiration for innovative baked goods.

MD Paul Smith calls Hayden's Bakeries a "bit of a Cinderella business" presumably not in sufferance at domestic abuse from its siblings, but rather, one that was badly in need of a makeover. Now it's had its missing shoe slipped back on, Hayden's is fit again to grace the premium retail ball, having emerged from what Smith refers to as "years of under-achievement".

Mention bakery to an Italian and they soon start talking twice as fast. They love their breads each region is fiercely proud of its own as well as its national breads.

We have 74 associations throughout Italy in different towns. Our members represent 16-18,000 different firms. It is a challenging market, with changing demands the latest of which is salt reduction. But there is also the challenge of frozen breads, which the French have tackled well. Now we are fighting back too.

For bakeries and cafés, the crisps and snacks market, worth £2.6bn in 2009 according to Mintel, can be a lucrative part of their business.

Reformulation has resulted in overall salt reductions of up to 50% in many of the UK's most popular brands of cakes and biscuits since February 2006. And the sector has also been proactive on reducing artificial colours and trans fats, but sat fat reduction remains a challenge.

Getting customers through the bakery door on a warm summer's day involves some temptations away from the usual breads and morning pastries. Fresh fruit traybakes, fresh from the oven so the sweet aroma hangs in the shop air, is one approach used more in other countries and I'm thinking it's time we used more fresh fruit in British bakeries.

It's yet to be seen whether deputy PM Nick Clegg's stated aim of burning through bureaucracy will be a bonfire of red tape or as the cynics might predict a kindling that doesn't catch. But one baker has lit the touchpaper on her filing cabinet and, in so doing, has become the first to benefit from a new supplier accreditation scheme aimed at small businesses.

When it comes to bakery companies, there are famous brand names, family names and quite a few foreign-sounding names. However, it's not often one comes across a name so startlingly simple as Bakery and ironically the company is Italian.

From steel worker to cake maker not exactly a likely career progression more like chalk and cheese. However, Lightbody Celebration Cakes' David McClymont proved that this unusual career path can indeed be a winning one after being crowned Celebration Cake Maker of the Year, sponsored by Renshawnapier, at the Baking Industry Awards last year.

It goes against the grain, but some small bakers are effectively being priced out of getting organic certification.

A recent mysupermarket.com survey generated the headline "You might as well eat doughnuts for breakfast as breakfast cereal", after revealing that Cheerios and Crunchy Nut cornflakes contained as much sugar as a jam doughnut.

Whether they're going posh in Pizza Express or casual in Pizza Hut, having it delivered, taking it away, buying it from the freezer or chiller of a shop or even making their own, seven out of 10 people in the UK are eating pizza, according to research company Mintel.

There was one company which undoubtedly came out on top when it came to training at the Baking Industry Awards last year. A fourth generation business, still owned and run by the Coopland family, Coopland & Son (Scarborough) has grown enormously since it moved to its purpose-built factory and current site in Caxton Way nearly 20 years ago. Back then the business had nine shops, explains operations manager Robert Pashley and winner of The Achievement in Bakery Training Award, sponsored by Rich Products. His colleague, production manager John Ruddock, took home the Trainee Baker of the Year award sponsored by Improve and the National Skills Academy.

For some, the chasm between craft baking and the supermarkets is incalculable. Not so for Asda's in-store bakery buyer Laura Sayer, who can measure it in generations. Name ring a bell? It will if you are familiar with the UK's second-largest bakery chain, which Sayer's great grandparents started in Liverpool from humble origins the now 150-shop Sayers the Bakers.

Civic-minded residents in the London suburb of Pinner were slightly miffed when Starbucks opened in the high street. But they were fuming when it transpired the coffee giant did not have the proper planning permission.

It was a weekend full of thrills and thankfully very few spills at the Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees (ABST) Annual Conference at the Alton Towers Hotel last month.

For bakers looking to maximise on technology, premixes and improvers continue to offer a cost-effective method to develop on-trend products with a healthy shelf-life. Last year's recession saw some talk of bakers returning to baking from scratch to cut costs, but for most, the consensus emerged that to bake the best products, good premixes and improvers are a must-have.

So, you have goods to deposit or extrude, but what's the

Successfully implementing a global project for Starbucks to standardise its muffin range was, understandably, one of the main achievements Rich Products highlighted to judges in the Sainsbury's-sponsored Bakery Supplier of the Year category. But it was also its family culture and its focus on collaboration with its customers, which saw it walk away with the gong at the Baking Industry Awards 2009.

Next week marks the first-ever Co-operatives Fortnight (19 June to 3 July 2010). I know what some of you are thinking: crusty Guardian-reading weirdos and this, smiles Dan McTierman of co-operative The Handmade Bakery, is probably what the neighbouring butcher thinks when he drops round a copy of his British Baker to help out this fledgling start-up.

I can now declare Sainsbury's Bakery College officially open, said regional MD Anthony Hemmerdinger or words to that effect, as three bakery apprentices held up the red ribbon and bread chain, cut on 26 May.

As sales of the ubiquitous cupcake continue to rise, British Baker today launches the search to find Britain's Best Cupcake Baker 2010.

In the battle for customer loyalty on the high street the benefits of an Epos system are considerable: they're customer-focused and allow marketing initiatives to be delivered through a choice of communications including till displays, receipts, loyalty schemes or even email and text to prompt extra purchases.

Pork, ginger and rhubarb, mutton and turnip, and shrimp and butter were some of the more unusual pie varieties entered into the 2010 British Pie Awards this May. But while these eye-catching recipes offered a new take on the classic dish, traditional recipes such as steak and kidney scooped most of the top prizes.

The Bread Factory is anything but. Despite the company name, which, if nothing else, is a story to tell potential customers as we learn; its passion and aim as a business is to create artisan craft bakery products. It has successfully combined the benefits of scale with the traditional values of craft baking, making it the worthy winner of The Craft Business Award, sponsored by Rank Hovis at the Baking Industry Awards 2009.

Irish researchers at University College Cork have produced low-salt breads with a comparable shelf-life to standard breads, but they are still working on improving the flavour. One potential solution is to add sourdough as a flavour-enhancing agent.

What's the greatest barrier to growing a Belgian bakery chain in Britain? The crashing euro? A cataclysmic economic outlook? No, it's a linguistically challenged nation whose preferred mode of communication is shouting loudly at foreigners. "We've got a virtually unpronounceable name to most English people and a virtually indecipherable logo, even for those who work in the company!" says Steven Whibley, managing director at Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ).

Rugby legend Phil Vickery is on standby, local schools and community groups have been primed, and craft bakers round the country are putting the final touches to promotional plans.

All eyes to Scotland and a few eyebrows raised northwards too at news that the country's food and drink sector has been targeted to grow by a quarter by 2017, from £10bn to £12.5bn. Given the economic outlook, that's a laudable degree of faith in its food producers, among whom bakers are the biggest in number.

If you've used sales predictions and discounted food that's nearing it's sell-by date, but there's still stacks of unsold sandwiches and cakes, then there's only one thing for it: chuck it away.

By its very nature, baking is an inefficient use of energy: baking requires the highest temperatures (200-240°C); bread is a low-density product (90% air); and the occupation ratio in an oven is generally very small.

The environment may have been a notable absentee from the General Election campaign, but make no mistake it has not gone away. Companies picking their way through the government's Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) know this only too well. This is yet another Government-sponsored initiative, along with the Climate Change Levy (CCL), attempting to monitor and reduce CO2 emissions and more specifically energy consumption. Since launch, the CRC has been given the slightly longer, but more explanatory, name of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC EES).

A Ginsters pasty or slice, displayed in the chiller cabinet of a petrol station, may not immediately conjure up thoughts of the Cornish countryside carrots and potatoes plucked fresh from the soil or local cheese producers but perhaps it should.

There are lots of ways to raise money for charity. And swimming 1.5 miles around London Docklands, getting straight on to a bicycle with still wobbly legs, then going for a long run is more challenging than most.

George Brace, an engine driver from the Cambrian Colliery in the Rhondda Village of Clydach Vale, decided to open a small bakery and started a business that is now a highly respected plant bakery, still run and managed by his family.

Whereas systems with dough dividers and moulders have dominated the bread and roll market for many years, the significant new trend is production of bread from a continuous dough band, for quality and flexibility, even at the lower end of the scale. Gentle dough handling, along with ease of operation, automation and quality control, are continuing themes, as is versatility. The ability to process many products through the same machine, handling a wide variety of dough types, is especially important for modern products, including rustic and artisanal bread types.

Anyone noticed a change in supermarket hot cross buns this year? Did you observe, perhaps, that the fruit was particularly moist? Well, you would be right.

It has been said that looks aren't everything, and this certainly seems to be the case when it comes to chilled serve-over units. Although the aesthetics of these units is important to the overall look of the shop, versatility and function are also key selling points for bakery retailers.

Set in the beautiful and also slightly quirky town of Glastonbury, Burns the Bread has pride of place on the high street, set among shops selling crystals and books on fairies and witchcraft. Yet unlike its neighbours, the bakery has its head firmly in the real world and a honed approach to its business and customers.

A lot of the hype in the coffee shop market at the moment surrounds the much-trumpeted so-called 'third wave' of coffee shops. In case you missed the memo, the third wave refers to a band of quality-obsessed indie artisans currently germinating in the capital. These follow the second wave the emergence of the big chains, Costa, Starbucks and Caffè Nero. And the first? Pretty much everything that came before. "The third wave is about real authenticity, it's about love for what you do. It's about environment and theatre. For the first time in a long time this is being led by independents," said Jeffrey Young, MD of market analyst Allegra Strategies.

Machinery: Abacus digital water batching system

Machinery: Schubert TLM (Top Loading Machine)

Machinery: Vantage System

It seems smoothies have had their heyday and other premium drinks categories, such as pure juice, have also taken a knock in the recession. So what have consumers been drinking instead? From much of the data that has been floating around at the moment, it appears that many consumers have been trading down from pure juice to juice drinks.

Known for predominantly supplying the industrial baking sector, Cereform is taking a step out of its comfort zone and targeting the craft industry with a number of new products.

Ashers of Nairn has always been recognised first and foremost as a retail baker, with its shops accounting today for some 80% of total sales. However, the other 20% of its turnover drawn notably from wholesale and the gift sector has provided welcome insulation against seasonal or recession-related swings in retail returns.

This year's celebration of craft bakers is shaping up nicely, with merchandise now available and ambassadors appointed to big-up the baker.

Ladies and gentlemen! Roll-up, roll-up for the 2010 Baking Industry Awards, which scour the country in search of the baking industry's high fliers and success stories. This issue we welcome two new sponsors: Bakels, sponsoring Speciality Bread Product of the Year; and Dawn Foods, sponsoring In-Store Bakery of the Year (see pgs 18-19). As you might have already guessed, the awards, now in their 23rd year, will take the circus as its theme this year, with the presentation evening on 8 September guaranteed to provide all the excitement associated with Big Top entertainment.

What policies are you proposing to assist SMEs and those starting up businesses with accessing credit and business support?

Hygienic gloves (A)

What does a raspberry taste like? Well, to give a scientific answer, 13 hydrocarbons, 36 alcohols, 17 aldehydes, 22 ketones, 16 acids and 27 esters.

French bakers or 'boulangers' number around 33,000 in France, says Jean-Pierre Crouzet, president of UIB, the French craft bakers and confectioners association. This does not mirror the decline seen in some other countries, but is still fewer than a decade ago.

Bakery giant Delice de France's MD Ian Toal appears remarkably upbeat on the morning that we meet especially given the fact that Delice's parent group, Aryzta, announced downbeat trading results that were more a Déplaisir de France the same day. Performance in the UK and Ireland was cited as a drag on the group's fortunes, with operating conditions described as especially tough, contributing to a 10% drop in revenue in its European division in the six months to 31 January.

Three years ago, sandwich chain Baguette Express would not have even featured on British Baker's definitive list of Britain's top 75 bakery retailers. But today the East Lothian-based company is the fastest grower at number 20, with 62 outlets across the country, and is eyeing a top-10 place; it has ambitious plans to take on Subway and Greggs as it grows its retail estate to 300 stores over the next five years.

Major brands may well dominate the soft drinks sector, but it is still an evolving market, with changes in preference for flavours and formats. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently published its 2010 Basket of Goods and Services for the Consumer and Retail Prices Indexes, and made a couple of amendments to echo current trends: the fruit drink bottle has replaced the fruit drink carton, as the bottle format takes an increasing market share; and a small bottle of still mineral water has been added to represent water in the 'on-the-go' drinks market, to reflect increased spending on bottled water over a period of years, says ONS.

There's nothing quite like a recession to throw a spanner in the works or, more accurately, a bug in the Powerpoint chart of a marketer's forecast. Two years ago, it was all about healthier breads. The white bread sector had been toppled from its dominant position in the market, falling behind other bread categories in 2006 on expenditure, prompted by the growth in brown, wholegrain and seeded breads. Last year, it clawed back its top position to become the largest sector amid a backdrop of heavy price promotion and conservative shopping patterns. So is the future all white?

Waterfields of Leigh has a two-fold strategy when it comes to healthy breads. While the company offers a range of multiseed and wholegrain products, it has also spent the past two years making its range of non-speciality breads as healthy as possible, without affecting flavour.

Back in the 1950s, young graduate Margaret Thatcher was part of a chemical research team that discovered a method of doubling the amount of air or "overrun" in ice cream. This new foamy ice cream was popular among those consumers who preferred the lighter texture.

Time was when putting together a celebration cake was a logistical issue in white icing and dried fruit. Track forward a few decades and while logistics are still very much in evidence, the ingredients have changed beyond recognition. Nowadays, heavy alternatives to cake have been developed, which are capable of supporting the grandest of structures, while some bakers are styling creations of pure chocolate. And with techniques ever improving, some of the latest celebratory renditions could double-up as design icons.

West Cornwall Pasty Co (WCPC) has come a long way since it was founded in 1998 about 150 miles to be precise, as it's now based in Oxford. And the concept of Cornishness has been propelled further still, on a journey via the Caribbean towards the edges of reason, with the launch of a Reggae Reggae pasty, in association with Reggae Reggae sauce founder Levi Roots, last week.

A bakery shortlisted for a restaurant and bar design competition? That's a first! That bakery is the deliciously-camply monikered Outsider Tart a name inspired by partners and co-founders David Lesniak and serial entrepreneur David Muniz's love of outsider art. The Chiswick-based US-style emporium is the only bakery to make the finals of the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 2010 (to be held in June). What's more, they managed the shop fit with a mere £36,000 spend.

Plans for the second National Craft Bakers' Week (NCBW), which proved a big hit last year, are well under way. In fact, the overwhelming interest in last year's debut celebration of bakers took even the organisers by surprise and proved that schools, the public and local media are still fascinated to know more about baking and the industry. So NCBW provides the ideal forum for bakers to engage with their communities and develop their marketing potential to the full.

Salford was the latest council this month to ban biscuits at meetings, leaving a £30,000 hole in sales of bourbons, custard creams and Rich Tea. Luckily for cookie makers, the category looks likely to withstand such swingeing government cost-cutting ahead.

As BB reported last issue, calls to cut salt in food are showing no signs of quieting down, with bakers still public enemy number one as far as people's salt intake goes at least in the Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) eyes. Controlling salt levels is no mean feat just ask the government, which found it conspicuously difficult when the snow hit earlier this year. So what can bakers do to help the government reach its salt reduction targets and perhaps save a bit back for gritting the pavements?

Got your head around the difference between a latte and a cappuccino yet? No? Well, you've got a whole new coffee option to worry about now: the flat white.

The world's first integrated check weigher has been launched by Benier as part of a divider control system, which aims to optimise accuracy of dough weight.

While consumers have been trading down in many areas of their lives of late, it seems the bake-off breads market has been protected by a layer of recession-proof crust.

By offering coeliacs something they'd struggled to buy before fresh gluten-free bread it's not hard to see why Genius triumphed in The Innovation Award category, sponsored by Asda, at the Baking Industry Awards last year. The addition of this loaf to the supermarket shelves meant those requiring gluten-free bread, could actually purchase a loaf, and eat it as it came fresh.

Greggs has started gathering intelligence on overseas markets as it prepares for international expansion. The company is already Great Britain's biggest bakery takeaway operator, with 1,419 shops. But Greggs has plans to launch in other parts of the world in the longer term, says chief executive Ken McMeikan. Speaking to British Baker after Greggs topped the new BB75 league table of bakery retailers, McMeikan says Greggs' expansion ambitions are far from satisfied.

St Anne's College was the venue for The Rise of Real Bread Conference a place where the Gandalfs and Aslans of all baking things, philosophic and prophetic, gathered.

Sandwich retailer, EAT, which BB last August revealed had plans to double the number of outlets from 100 to 200 within three to five years, has revamped its chilled distributions to cope with worries over sudden failures in distribution of products to its stores.

While most people will be aware of the major bakery wholesalers such as Bako and BFP lesser known are the smaller regional suppliers that are making inroads into craft bakery. Walker Humphrey, which supplies esteemed retailers like Bettys of Harrogate and Cooplands of Doncaster, is a case in point.

The logistics of integrating two large firms, operating from different sites, can be a real nightmare.

What's the latest?

Simply put, Daub makes ovens. The company pioneered thermal oil ovens which, according to research, save 30% on energy costs while producing quality end-products. At its Hamburg headquarters, which employs 85 people, the ovens are built before being exported to Britain and all over the world.

McDonalds Bakers of Glasgow took a tentative step in a new direction during the 1990s and has never looked back. A traditional family baking business, with 10 conventional retail outlets, the company had made an abortive and almost business-ending attempt to diversify into wholesale during the previous decade. And since it was "getting harder and harder for traditional bakers' shops", according to its MD, the decision was taken to develop a coffee shop and takeaway offering.

A world of change and only 650 words to sum it up (that's 12 wasted already). You could write a book on the new qualifications framework, its implications and benefits for employers, and how bakery fits in. Instead, here is the slimmed-down, abridged, Dr Atkins version just the protein, no carbs.

These premium Easter-themed cakes use Macphie's Genoese Mix and 5th Avenue icing and offer a high profit margin.

This recipe combines CSM's Craigmillar-branded Extra Moist Cake and Crembel Lemon Fudge Icing.

This uses Baktem Blue (used at 20% on flour weight) for fermented buns, a ready-to-use crossing mix and a ready-to-use bun glaze. Baktem Spiced Bun Concentrate, a ready-spiced mix (25% on flour weight), is also available.
Ingredients kg
Flour4.000
Baktem Blue 20%0.800
Yeast0.200
Water2.240
Currants1.000
Sultanas1.000
Peel (if required)0.038
Bun spice flavour0.035
Total9.313

You don't have to wait until September's National Cupcake Week to capitalise on the cupcake craze, which shows no signs of slowing. In fact, cupcakes saw sales volume growth of 13.7% and average prices per pack increasing by 7.2% (TNS Superpanel, 52 w/e 4 October 2009). "There is still potential in the market for those looking for great trading profits," says Lisa Boswell, marketing manager at CSM. So why not try some decorated cupcakes this Easter?
Ingredient suppliers are coming up with a number of ways to cut costs and simplify the process this season. Karen Scott, communi-cations manager at Macphie, says: "We recommend that bakers look more closely at the 'cost in use', because it is not just about the cost of the bag mix, it is about how far the mix goes and what additional ingredients may be needed."
Meanwhile, British Bakels is offering a package that means bakers can achieve an 80% margin on hot cross bun sales. If they use Baktem Blue, along with Bakels' ready-to-use Crossing Mix, they will receive the ready-to-use Bun Glaze free of charge. This bundle deal is the equivalent to a 30% discount across the board.
"Our package gives bakers the opportunity to produce great-tasting hot cross buns and increase their profit margins, thanks to the free bun glaze," says Pauline Ferrol, national sales controller at Bakels.

Jonathan Warburton, chairman, Warburtons
"I believe the category still has lots of opportunity to encourage consumers to expand their repertoire, particularly at the moment when staying in and eating at home is becoming increasingly common. If we work closely in partnership with our customers, we can achieve this. Innovation is key within any category to ensure that the product offering remains relevant to consumers and bakery is no exception. As a business, we are more determined than ever to help drive growth in the category and succeed in these difficult times."
Mike Benton, marketing controller,McVitie's Cake Company
"As the recession continues into 2010, promotions will continue to play an important part in the market for branded cakes.
"Consumers will be looking for brands they trust and value products that provide more for their money and, as consumer confidence in the category slowly returns, there will be a bigger appetite for innovation. This will add excitement to the category, reflecting consumers' willingness to experiment with new products and flavours.
"Health and nutritional improvements and reformulations will play a key part, as comfort eating declines and people look for healthier alternatives. In keeping with this trend, out-of-home consumption is likely to continue to decline, as fewer people choose to have lunchboxes and vending machines are removed from schools in a bid to tackle the growing problem of obesity.
"It is also expected that there will be a massive growth in the importance of new consumer communication channels, as people become more interested in alternative forms of consumer engagement, such as digital media campaigns and advertising.
"The government health agenda will put added pressure on the market, with companies under continuous pressure to produce healthier products that will aid in combating obesity in the UK. Retailers will also be faced with the challenge of maximising profitability from shop space, as consumers continue to demand value from products.
"It would bring a great big smile to my face if we could see the cake market return to volume growth in 2010. Nothing would make me sigh; I'm an eternal optimist."
Ken McMeikan, chief executive officer, Greggs
"The biggest hope I have is that there aren't going to be significant job losses. One thing I've noticed in 2009, which impacts on confidence more than anything, is when people are uncertain about their own future and their incomes. People are still very uncertain about that, particularly when they know that whoever is in government will have to face the UK's debt challenge and make some tough decisions that could involve job losses. If people have money and there's still confidence to spend or to start spending, then we all have a chance of having a reasonably good year.
"As for the baking industry, I would hope that we continue to work well with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on issues such as salt and fat reduction. These are important targets we face as an industry and we are making good progress and doing a lot of work towards them. But we have to have a very healthy and constructive partnership with the FSA, because we don't want to have customers impacted adversely by the consequences of what we're doing, due to changes in the taste and quality of the products we're delivering.
"We make great-tasting products that our customers love and we are working towards FSA guidelines and targets. But I think we need a commonsense approach. Our hope is to have a constructive working relationship with the FSA, so that we continue the dialogue and they work closely with us to understand the efforts we're making to reduce salt, as well as the consequences of what we're doing.
"I also hope that we don't lose any more small independent bakeries. That's not good for the baking industry and, over the past three to four months, we've started to see some of the smaller chains of bakeries and independent bakers going into administration. The one that surprised me was Ainsleys, given its size.
"We tend to see more reports of retail sales through the supermarkets, so you don't get the full picture of the high street and the effect the recession is having. It's good to have competition and the baking industry needs independent bakers; they create a lot of innovative and specialist products, challenging all of us to match or do better than them. And the human side of smaller chains or independent bakers going into administration is that people have lost their jobs.
"For Greggs, my hope is that it remains a strong and growing business, because that allows us to continue to create jobs. We employ over 19,000 people, so securing their employment is important and good for the economy as a whole."
Simon Cannell, head of La Boulangerie, Brakes
"With regards to salt, my concern boils down to the fact that, as a nation, we've been consistently eating less bread over the years and what is this being replaced with? Everyone recognises that bread and other starchy foods should represent a significant portion of a healthy diet. If we turn customers off bread, will this be replaced by less healthy alternatives. Bread has always played a vital role in diets across the globe, but more and more people I speak to in the UK say that they don't eat bread any more due to diets etc.
"For 2010, I'd like to see a healthier view towards bread in the UK. Sometimes, all of the good work that is done in salt reduction can lead to the only thing consumers hearing is that bread is full of salt and bad for you. We need a balanced view and we need to promote the benefits of bread in a healthy diet much more effectively."
Nicky Cracknell, national account controller, Bakehouse
"2009 has been a tough year for the economy and the foodservice industry has felt the impact. In 2010, consumers are looking for a good deal, but not at the expense of quality. With this in mind, there is a lot of NPD activity around products that offer the best combination of innovation and value. We believe that any issue of cost will come full circle, as people want to indulge in little daily luxuries, such as a fresh morning pastry on the way into work. We are seeing a real rise in interest in new savoury options within the bakery sector. There is a demand for innovation at the savoury end of the scale. Consumers want something different to eat on-the-go or as an alternative lunchtime option or accompaniment.
"For coffee shops, price is a real driver at present, with an increased focus on savoury items and this is also true for quick-service shops and service stations, which are looking to extend their savoury offer and provide a choice of comfort foods. Operators will be looking at getting their core ranges correct, before considering extensions to the offering. It is a careful balancing act between not offering too much choice, so as not to confuse customers, but having enough to inspire them and secure repeat purchases. The important thing is to demonstrate that you are trying new things."
Jefta Kon Lakovic, chief executive, Arnaouti Pitta Bakery, Hoddesdon, Herts
"In 2010 I believe we are going to see the growth of more flour-based baked snacks, such as crisps, hoops and other extruded goods, because they will be perceived as healthier. Obesity is becoming a major problem, so lower fat levels will be good and cost content will be lower.
"A new niche drinks market will emerge, with more drinks from the Orient using natural juices and spring water. They will be all-natural with little or no added sugars.
"This Easter, I think the economy will give a false sign of uplift, around election time, but then it will dip again. Hopefully we will see a resurgence beginning in the autumn, motoring on through Christmas and gaining momentum in 2011. The British export market in food will contribute to this and the whole economy will start to resume growth of between 2-6%. This may happen earlier (as in France, Germany and others), but the UK. economy is no longer manufacturing-dominant. In my view, this is a serious disadvantage."
Paul Ettinger, a founder of Caffè Nero
"Predicting the big food trends is not easy, but I see artisan bakeries growing, and smaller food portions arriving. Challenges will include a flat economy, volatile ingredient prices, currency issues, inflation and more competition."
Duncan Macfarlane, sales director, Scobie & McIntosh bakery equipment
"Alistair Darling needs to move on or get the sack! The pound needs to recover more. The banks need a push to start filtering more money through to businesses and there needs to be more grants available. They should treat the whole of the UK as equal not just take specific areas where some can get grants of 47% towards new equipment and others, such as Aberdeen, getting virtually nothing. Where is the fairness in that?"
John Smith, MD of craft baker New Pitsligo, nr Aberdeen
"We have two shops and a wholesale business, comprising around 60% to local shops and convenience stores. I want to see cheaper distribution costs and diesel come down.
"[Scotland's First Minister] Alex Salmond promised to reduce business rates and he's done that. We now pay virtually none, saving us around £450 a month. It's good to see a politician supporting small businesses and keeping his promises! It has made craft bakeries compete much better throughout Scotland."
Keith Stalker, MD, EPP machinery
"Not being able to get funds from banks is holding good businesses back. We see customers who want to expand SMEs and, while the very big ones are OK, as are the major retailers, the SMEs are not getting access to the money they need.
"So the banks need to lend more and the pound needs to get stronger. We need to see the UK start to climb out of the recession and hear people talking more positively about things and for that to happen, more lending needs to take place."
Neville Moon, head of food and beverage, Caffè Nero
"I would say 'excess' will be a watchpoint as we exit the recession. For example, large portion sizes, or products laden with fat or sugar, will make people feel they are not being good to themselves. 'Healthy' will take on a greater role, particularly in snacking, as well as healthier alternatives to pastry and muffins. I also predict a greater interest in artisan products particularly for better bread."
Kirk Hunter, CEO, Scottish Association of Master Bakers
"I'd like to see us move strongly out of recession. To do that, we need to restore consumer confidence, so government must come clean on the right strategy. We need to get through the election because, at the moment, we are in a phoney war situation, which is not good for business.
"We can anticipate public expenditure cutbacks, which are bound to have an effect on bakers, but overall I'm optimistic that 2010 will see the beginning of a recovery and a return to prosperity."
"I hope this is a year we see the economy start to recover and customers being more confident."
Scott Clarke, bakery category director, Tesco
Simon Solway, MD, Unifine Food & Drink Ingredients
"Last year was about looking at the bottom line and reducing costs; 2010 will be about building on that platform. Once the country thaws which is the big issue of the moment we're really seeing more positivity in the market.
"Consequently, we're looking forward to the Baking Industry Exhibition [at the NEC from 21 to 24 March] this year, where there will be a lot of new launches; this gives us confidence. If we look at our customers, we're recording more launches compared to this time last year. If we looked at 2009, the first six months were very tough and things got a lot better in the last six months, and that has carried on already into January.
"In November, British Baker wrote that Danish pastry sales were up 10% year-on-year second behind muffins. This is fantastic news yes, people are being careful about what they buy, but they want something that tastes good and satisfies all their senses. We would encourage customers to look to the Continent, where there are some great new products being launched. We would also like to see the UK export more cake there's still so much imported cake into the UK. The exchange rate is something producers can really benefit from."
Andy Pollard, sales and marketing director, Cereform
"I want to see the Euro exchange rate improve and raw material prices become more consistent, so we are able to give longer-term commitment on cost to manufacturers and they, in turn, can do the same for their customers.
"I'd also like to see a continuing resurgence of brands, which puts value back into the baked goods sector. Also, I'd like consumers to understand and appreciate the baking industry as a provider of healthy staple products, as well as indulgent ones.
"I have no agenda regarding the GM issue. However if, in the future, consumers and the retailers want the food industry to continue to provide products at ever-reducing prices while maintaining quality, it must be a consideration."

The baking industry has traditionally prided itself on its artisan production methods, usually portrayed by television commercials showing the baker's lad on his bicycle, delivering fresh bread or a loaf gently rising in the oven. However, the multi-billion pound bread and morning goods market now delivers an estimated 12 million loaves and packs every day in the UK, and producing that quantity requires a far more state-of-the-art approach.
Many smaller British bakers have yet to come up to speed with modern production solutions. The apparent reluctance to adopt new technologies in some quarters mirrors many sectors of the UK food industry as a whole. Even major bakery manufacturers, who already employ higher levels of automation, can benefit still further from the innovative methods now available for boosting productivity.
It was to overcome this scepticism about the capabilities and benefits of flexible automated processes and solutions in the UK food industry that CenFRA, the Centre for Food Robotics and Automation, was founded. In contrast to the UK, the food manufacturing industry in Europe embraces automation and robotics at all levels. Even the craft bakers who dominate the Continental market rely on automated processes, so CenFRA's primary aim was to close that technological gap.
Many bakers are aware of basic automation, such as mixers, depositing systems and conveyors, but some find it difficult to think 'outside the box'. Issues such as factory space, concerns that automation is not cost-effective for small runs or fears that switching to robotics could compromise the quality that hand-crafted products provide are all cited as reasons not to engage. Yet CenFRA says these fears are unfounded and, to encourage and enable greater take up of automation, has developed discrete event simulation systems to demonstrate the advantages without the need for physical mock-ups, which can incur significant costs. CenFRA's engineers can draw up a "virtual" map of the baker's set-up, using highly advanced software and can then highlight prospective areas for improvement, while identifying any potential or unforeseen obstacles and influences created elsewhere in the client's manufacturing process as a result of these changes.
Traditionally, bakeries have been labour-intensive, fed by the many workers choosing to come to the UK to seek work, particularly from within the eastern region of the European Union. But there is an increasing trend for foreign workers to return to their homelands, and despite a backdrop of rising unemployment in the UK, many of these places remain difficult to fill.

Think of pizza and you'll automatically think of Italy which is why the Kaak Group says it has turned to the land of pizza, pasta and Chianti as inspiration for its pizza lines.
The only difference between Kaak and the traditional Italian pizzeria is that the company's pizza expert Italian company MCS based in the north of the country has designed plants that can produce up to 15,000 pizzas an hour.
MCS is considered to be one of the world's leading specialist companies for pizza lines. The reasons for success are its expertise, built over a number of years, and the fact that each line is designed and developed on a bespoke basis.
Says Maurizo Tabarelli, head of MCS: "The type of plant we commission depends on the end-product and the intended sales and distribution channels fresh or frozen pizza, sheeted, cross-sheeted dough, pizza crusts in trays or directly pressed on the belt and sometimes even a combination of methods. No matter what the customer's needs are, we supply the equipment and the tech-nical know-how."
Core parts of the product range are pizza plants, a wide range of automatic provers with swing trays, as well as the cyclotherm ovens from the Bakemaster series. The ovens, which heat the baked products with radiated, as well as convection, heat, are modular in design, allowing easy selection of the baking area, number of burners and burner performance.
Any type of wire mesh belts, hinge plate belts and, in particular, natural stone plates, are available. The stone plate supports are moved with heavy-duty chains located laterally on high temperature-proof ball bearings.
This oven is suitable for baking almost any kind of baked goods, from traditional bread (hearth-baked) to all types of panned bread, hearth rolls, small bakery items on trays, all kinds of fine bakery wares and even most pizza types, as the oven can reach a baking temperature of up to 300°C. Pizzas can be baked in one to two minutes.
The company also cuts down on dough handling and mess by pressing pizza crusts directly on to the oven belt before baking. This avoids the need to sprinkle flour on the dough during make-up. A light film is applied to the belt, the pizza crusts are pressed at a temperature of almost 100°C and they do not stick.

If you've read the papers recently you'll have seen lots of stories stating that many of us do not have enough Vitamin D. Prior to the 1800s, people spent their lives largely in agricultural communities, working or playing outdoors, with the main source of Vitamin D being the sun. The ultra violet rays in sunlight naturally convert cholesterol in the skin to Vitamin D. This is the most important source of Vitamin D for people.
The only significant dietary sources of Vitamin D are oily fish and fortified products such as margarine and breakfast cereals. For people living in countries far north of the equator, such as Iceland, who get less sun, dietary sources of Vitamin D such as oily fish are important for health and wellbeing.
But times have changed. Now we are often in bakeries, offices or cars. Many of our foods are fortified, because processing takes out natural goodness. Breakfast cereals are commonly fortified with iron, niacin and Vitamin D, among others. And here's the rub: flour is fortified, too, but bakers never shout about it on the pack. It was a point made forcibly by Scott Clarke, bakery director of Tesco, at this year's Federation of Bakers conference. Breakfast cereals compete with bread, he said, but Kellogg's and others make their cereals sound healthier. Bakers, he pointed out, are missing a vital sales trick.
But with Vitamin D now in the spotlight, Lallemand, which owns Britain's biggest yeast-making plant based at Felixstowe, formerly GB Ingredients, has pioneered a way to give yeast itself natural Vitamin D by treating it with ultra-violet light. The yeast will be available in normal block, cream and instant dried formats.
But why is Vitamin D so vital? It's because deficiencies are said to contribute to osteoporosis, some cancers, especially breast, colon and prostate and a weaker immune system. The amount inherent in all Lallemand's yeast is at least 30 IU (international units) per 100g serving of bread, which is enough to ensure a necessary level but nowhere near enough to exceed the safe upper limit of 2,000 IU recommended by the EU scientific experts even if you do spend a lot of time outdoors, eat oily fish or take a multivitamin supplement.
So who is Lallemand and why have they pioneered the new yeast? Lallemand UK MD Dr Mike Chell explains that the company is a major worldwide yeast supplier, which invests many millions in plants and research. "After the EU Commission took a keen interest in all yeast acquisitions across Europe, Lesaffre GB Ingredients' then owner agreed to sell the company.
"Lallemand was waiting in the wings to buy GB," he adds. "Our Felixstowe plant is one of only two yeast plants in the UK and is the biggest. We supply both the UK and Ireland. The company is set to benefit enormously from all Lallemand's international R&D and expertise."

Breathe a sigh of relief with that headline, we're not building up to a discussion on what might poke out above Kerry Katona's trousers, but rather the more palatable proposition of cake muffins being one of the top performers in the cake market over the past year.
Given that it's a pretty mature category, valued at £64m, why has it seen a 20%-plus spurt over the last year? It's largely down to the huge increase in opportunities to purchase, says Mike Benton, marketing controller at McVitie's Cake Company. McVitie's has developed the branded muffin market to the point where it has the top four muffin SKUs in what he calls the "eat now" market Galaxy, Mars, Jaffa Cakes and Choc Chip Muffins in that order and has a 51% share of the total branded muffin market. One way it has differentiated in an increasingly commoditised category is by injecting a filling and topping with chocolate.
"The growth and expansion of the multiple grocers, local, express and travel outlets plus the growth of café culture within the UK and all outlets offering muffins as a staple item, has led to the growth of the muffin market," he says. What's more, the number of varieties on offer continues to expand, often with seasonal variations, "all leading to increased awareness of muffins within the UK market", he adds.
Strong growth has also come from the coffee shop sector, says Simon Cannell, head of bakery at foodservice wholesaler Brakes, which led with a range of five tulip muffins when launching its La Boulangerie bakery division earlier this year. "We've seen phenomenal growth on those and they've been our most successful range since launch," he says. Many of those muffins have gone into high street department store coffee shops and contract catering. "We know that the coffee shop market is outperforming the rest of the industry anyway, but a lot of the reason why ours have done so well is because they are flow-wrapped, so they've got a four-day shelf-life from thaw. They've also got good visual characteristics."
So is this boom something that is being reflected in craft retail? "It is, yes they're certainly going in the direction of becoming one of our top sellers," says Neil Wood, head of retail sales for 16-shop and bakery wholesaler Wright's, based in Crewe. "We're very proactive in introducing new products and people's eating habits are changing from some of the traditional lines to something that's a bit new. Muffins have been so well advertised by the likes of McDonald's, that it's a product that fits into the marketplace nicely."

That was the year that was. The deepest recession in history, unprecedented industry interference from the food regulator, a series of big name chains toppling like dominoes not to mention a glut of biscuit-related scandals (more of that later), and well, looking back, it could have been a lot worse. In fact, over the course of the year, the number of good news stories among bakery retailers and manufacturers far outweighed the bad, which goes to show it wasn't all doom and gloom.

When it comes to pastry, Pidy may not be the most recognised name in the UK, but this looks set to change as the Belgium-based firm embarks on expansion this side of the channel. Based in the once war-torn town of Ypres, the company already produces pastry products in as many sizes and shapes as you could imagine, so you might think NPD could pose a problem but you'd be wrong.
Pidy, an acronym for Patisserie Industrielle Dehaeck Ypres, is an independent family business, set up in 1967 by the late pastry baker Andre Dehaeck , the father of current chairman Thierry. While working at the family bakery and patisserie, he secured his first business customer when approached by a lady from Gant, who had a wine and cheese shop and was interested in selling his pastry products to complement her offering. He also discovered a market for gift-packs of unfilled pastry, which were purchased by tourists visiting the battlefields surrounding Ypres. Enquiries from wholesalers then started rolling in, and the business grew and grew, with the company's first production unit created in a bakery of only 520sq m.
A series of acquisitions and a number of years later, Pidy now produces over 300 million pieces per year, from its three production sites in Ypres, Halluin in France and Inwood, USA.
Foodservice has been its core business since it began in the 1960s, but Pidy also manufactures ready-to-fill pastry products for sectors including manufacturing and industrial; contract and event catering; cash-and-carry; and retail. It produces six different types of dough: puff pastry, shortcrust dough, choux buns, sponge dough, pâte à foncer (the French version of a basic pie dough, but with an extra-fine texture) and croustade.
For the production of its puff pastry Pidy uses both the French and Dutch method of production. With the French method, the fat is placed between the layers of dough, whereas with the Dutch method the fat is mixed with the dough and then layered. As an example of output, the Ypres factory produces approximately 29,500 pieces of its 4.5cm sized bouchées similar to a vol-au-vent an hour.
Pidy already has a presence in the UK, with ambient products in Brakes, its biggest foodservice customer. It also supplies Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Harrods, Waitrose, Délifrance and Spar. But the firm isn't as well represented on the high street and has put the wheels in motion to change this.
Recently appointed UK general manager Robert Whittle says the firm sees an opportunity to increase its presence in high street bakeries, patisseries and cafés. "We're also looking to talk to the likes of Pret A Manger and Starbucks in the UK and Europe," he adds. Whittle's aim is to double the firm's overall growth in the UK over a period of two years, which will involve expansion in the majority of the markets in which it operates, not just bakery retail.
The majority of the sales thrust in the UK bakery and café sector will be through targeted product launches. These have been designed to address problems such as lack of time, space and skilled staff, as well as the view that sales are often made based on the visual appeal of products. Pidy has already launched easy-to-use kits, such as Tarto Presto. This contains pastry tartelettes and crème patissière, which can be combined with fruits or chocolate, for example, to create eye-catching "window candy", says Whittle.
Pidy is hoping to introduce other kits as well and Whittle says plans are already afoot, although "still under wraps", to join forces with partners in the industry. "We see an opportunity to increase our presence in independent bakeries by working with partner companies, such as Unifine, to get our products to that market," he explains.
Chairman Thierry Dehaeck says that "finding skilled staff is getting to be a nightmare" and that products such as Pidy's pastry cases can be promoted as "a perfect substitute for a handmade product", leaving the baker time to concentrate on the filling and presentation.
"We can also offer frozen dough to the UK bakery sector, as we now have adequate storage facilities we haven't had the capability to do this before," says Whittle, adding that the firm is currently in talks with Brakes about distributing its frozen range.
Dehaeck says that although the company has competitors, when comparing individual types of pastry, there are no other companies that have the 'all-under-one-roof' claim. "Pidy is at an advantage as it manufactures such a variety of products," he adds.
Moreover, the company certainly hasn't been resting on its laurels when it comes to innovation. With around 30 new product launches in the last year, and plenty more to come, how does it come up with new ideas? "Question everything this is the most important thing," answers Dehaeck. To rethink and optimise the original idea, to reshape any shape and to apply trends proactively, are key parts of Pidy's new product development. But it's not enough just to sell the products, you need to sell the ideas to go with it, adds Dehaeck.
Pidy likes to be ahead of the game. "We are focused on quality and customer-driven thinking. We always try to be proactive," explains corporate sales director Robin Van Oudenhove. For example, the firm introduced products containing non-hydrogenated fat around two years ago, despite that fact it isn't a necessary requirement in Belgium, he explains. Areas the company is now looking at include low-fat and gluten-free options. "If we can have a production facility ahead of a competitor in terms of trends, then we're at an advantage," explains Dehaeck.
Recent innovation includes the creation of a vol-au-vent that keeps its crispiness without needing to be reheated; a tart with a vegetable coating that stops it going soggy and allows users to prepare finished products in advance; and canapé products such as mini-cones and 'spoonettes' an area Dehaeck says is seeing real growth in the UK. However, in one case, its recently launched edible coffee cups needed to come with a warning. Oudenhove explains that at a trade show in Dubai, a gentlemen decked out entirely in white took a bite out of the pastry cup before he had finished drinking the coffee and ended up wearing it instead.
The family aspect of the business is very important to Dehaeck, who says the secret to keeping your staff happy and retaining them is by listening to what they have to say. And as some of his employees have worked at the company for over 25 years, that philosophy appears to be working.