Craft bakers around the country are gearing up for National Doughnut Week from 10-17 May with a host of exciting ideas to help raise funds for the event’s chosen charity The Children’s Trust.

See if you can match up the crypric clues to types of bread. And, yes, some of the answers made us groan too.

l Local sourcing

The news has come this week of the experiments of a large producer of bread to combat the competition of the "oven-hot" loaf of the family baker. With the widening field that must ever be sought for plant-produced bread, these manufacturers have been seeking a method of producing oven-fresh bread before the customer.

Aspiring brides have literally been left on the shelf at a Nottingham bakery. Paul Brown, owner of Sweet Success bakery, told a British Baker journo that the company has been busy making wedding cakes for gay men's civil partnership parties. But the high demand for groom figurines has left a pile of unwanted brides.

Learned, dapper and with a bowel to set your watch by, healthy-eating prophet Dr Allinson was over a century ahead of his time and a self-proclaimed authority on everything from farting to skinny dipping. Here's his vital advice on kids' salt intake.

...of shoppers would like to be able to recognise free-from foods more easily with improved packaging, says a poll by allergy magazine Foods Matter, with clear 'flashes' to identify wheat-free and dairy-free products wanted by 98%. Isn't the whole 'free-from' section in the supermarket enough of a clue...?

"Aaaaaarrgh ****! Somebody PLEASE make it stop!" - BB features editor Andrew Williams goes into panic when a glitch in his out-of-office reply starts spewing out emails to every single message in his inbox, some dating back to 2005, with one baffled recipient hit with an astonishing 109 emails in 10 minutes

You may remember, three weeks ago, when Stop the Week featured a story on http://www.baby-cakes.co.uk, which makes its cakes from unconventional ingredients: nappies. Well, owner Miranda Hart got in touch to express her delight at the coverage, and concurred that the concept would have struggled in the BBC's Dragons' Den. "I quite agree - definitely not a conventional filling, but one which is literally flying out like 'hot cakes'! I don't think I would like to put myself through the Dragons' Den - I can hear their comments now 'Nappy what?', 'Cakes?', 'I wouldn't want a chocolate-filled one!' etc."

This recipe was devised by Nicolas Boussin, winner of the coveted title of Best Pastry Chef in France. Inspired by a burning log fire, but by no means confined to Christmas, this recipe has warm fiery overtones. This luxury chocolate cake costs less than £1 per slice net to make, but can retail for up to £4 per slice in a high-end bakery, café or patisserie. Each cake serves eight slices or can be sold whole.

Now - 10 cases

A few years ago, while digging up the M1, workmen dozily pierced the pipeline taking water to Coca-Cola's biggest factory in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

John Montague (1718-1792), the fourth Earl of Sandwich, often gets the credit for inventing the sandwich.

Back in 2005, McCambridge's chairman, Michael McCambridge, was quoted in the Irish Times as saying: "McCambridge is linked almost exclusively with brown bread and we want to keep it that way." Two years later, it acquired the second-biggest cake manufacturer in the UK, in the shape of Inter Link Foods. But they'd already picked up three UK businesses by that point, en route to the 10 in total that they've accrued in the UK and Ireland since 1999.

With summer just around the corner, outdoor parties are promising to be in full swing - and you don't need to be an events organiser to cash in.

With a trained chef as a mother to teach her cookery from an early age and a father who worked for Lloyds Bank providing commercial nous, it's perhaps not surprising that Gemma Parker has ended up running an increasingly successful cake-making business in Norfolk.

Vera Foreman, training manager - apprentices, Morrisons

One small step for bakers (or a few steps upstairs to the conference rooms at Baking Industry Exhibition), one giant leap for baking kind. What last year appeared a challenge at one time as unlikely as putting a man on the moon - getting the baking industry to speak with once voice - last week came a significant stride nearer.

With a title like 'Fantastic Party Cakes', cake maker extraordinaire Mich Turner's latest opus, which features a gushing endorsement from alpha male chef Gordon Rammo on the cover (the f-words must have been edited out), could equally be strapped with the anti-Yorkie tagline: 'It's not for boys'.

The first of the English asparagus will be appearing at the end of April. The British asparagus season, which lasts just eight weeks, really gets going in May and is finished by the end of June, although fresh asparagus is available all year round from places as far away as Spain and Peru.

According to the food pundits, the snacking agenda for the year ahead is healthy eating. Well I have a problem with healthy eating; it's all so negative, so depressing - you can't eat this, you can't eat that. It's 'free-from' this and 'low in' that and definitely none of the other!

What service do you sell?

Linx Printing Technologies has launched a new model of continuous inkjet printer, which is capable of reducing solvent usage by up to 40% and delivering additional cost of ownership savings.

Allen Coding Systems has launched a low-cost, thermal transfer printer specifically designed for food industry users of traditional hot stamp equipment. The 53LTi enables customers to upgrade to a more versatile system that easily prints vital fixed and variable text and graphics.

Husky Group has launched the IcePod 2 Modular display freezer or chiller combination, which has three separate stackable pods.

Positive ID labelling has developed a new multi-purpose label that can both carry printed data and indicate when pre-packed foods have achieved the correct temperature. The label is printed with a special ink strip that remains invisible until it changes to black at the specified temperature, ensuring the food has been properly heated. The change is permanent and irreversible.

Ultrasonic cutting machine manufacturer Döinghaus, from Germany, has launched a cutter designed to cut slab products in or out of trays. It will cut triangles and portion round cakes. The unit incorporates a positioning device for accurate product placement and also has an integral cleaning system which uses UV light to kill bacteria.

Barbel Quattro has developed a vegetable preparation machine, which can process up to 30kg of vegetables or fruit an hour.

Hoshizaki has introduced the super-compact DSM 12 ice dispenser, for use when only relatively low volume is required or when usage is occasional.

Warewashing company Meiko UK has taken the first step in implementing a carbon offset programme for every road, air and freight mile undertaken on behalf of the company. Several of the firm's energy, chemical and sustainable kitchen food waste products will automatically qualify for 'footprint points' that convert into pounds for the Meiko UK Carbon Offset Fund. At the end of the year, proceeds from the fund will be distributed to a number of organisations that actively contribute to reducing CO2 in the atmosphere, whether in support of replacing non-renewable fuel projects, forest restoration or energy efficiency.

Gilberts Food Equipment has launched the Nemco Easy Tomato Slicer 11, which can slice tomatoes and onions to a uniform size within seconds for burgers, buffets, salads or sandwiches.

Tyrrell's Potato Chips has launched a seasonal variety - Garden Herbs. The launch blends four classic herbs - basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano - to give "delicately balanced yet flavoursome" crisps.

Bruno and Sergio Costa set up their first coffee roastery in Lambeth, London, in 1971, supplying local caterers and Italian coffee shops with coffee, slow roasted the Italian way.

How did your career progress before joining Costa Coffee?

Bakers and confectioners are advised to get their skates on if they want to take part in this year's Baking Industry Awards, as the deadline, Friday 16 May, is fast approaching. The Awards have a category to suit everyone, so there's no excuse not to have a go.

Piping bags that pipe themselves

Visitors to the Baking Industry Exhibition 2008 (BIE) not only had access to 120 exhibitors, but could also take advantage of a range of innovative features.

Uncertainty is likely to remain in the market for the remainder of the old wheat crop marketing campaign, and weather is now critical for the new crop. Analysts are expecting a record wheat crop for 2008/09. In the meantime, the new crop forwards market is broadly tracking old crop movements in the absence of solid market fundamentals of its own.

In these days of economic uncertainty, fuelled by the credit crunch, falling equity markets and commodity market speculation, it is increasingly important that we all (suppliers, wholesalers, and bakers) work together throughout the supply chain and focus on the consumer.

Dear Sylvia

Gates boost for wheat

Award-winning Northern Ireland bakery Knotts has made inroads south of the border by securing a contract to supply its range of premium, quality "pound" cakes to Donnybrook Fair, a major retailer in Dublin.

UK bake-off and food-to-go giant Country Choice is planning to take on rival Cuisine de France (CDF) on its own turf, by entering the Northern Irish market, which the latter dominates.

Carr's Milling Industries, the Cumbrian-based agriculture, food and engineering firm, has seen a 45% rise in half-year profits.

The Real Good Food Company (RGFC) achieved increased sales last year, but profits suffered as a result of soaring commodity prices, with a decline in its bakery ingredients division from £5.6 million to £4m, according to its end-of-year results.

BB's juicy deal

Dan O'Donohoe (63) of Foxrock, Dublin, who collapsed and died suddenly at the beginning of April, was a well-known figure in the Irish baking industry, writes Hugh Oram.

Scottish bakers Aulds is consulting with its 150 employees at its Greenock factory about a possible move to a new manufacturing facility 16 miles away in Inchinnan, as its current plant is outdated.

Costa Coffee is to source its entire coffee supply from sustainable farms.

Instant coffee from traditional vending machines or via the kettle is increasingly becoming a thing of the past, as consumption of higher-quality coffee in the workplace booms, fuelling value growth of the market, according to new research.

Improve changes NI apprenticeship

Bakers across the UK have been signing up for this year's National Doughnut Week and are urging others to take part with ideas on how to maximise sales.

First Quality Foods has sold its couscous packing division to concentrate on its core cereal bar and cake bakery business.

The Finsbury Food Group has strengthened its operations in the 'free-from gluten' market with the £8.9 million acquisition of Yorkshire Farm Bakery (YFB) and A&P Foods.

Sayers Bakery in Liverpool has begun talks with union officials over 150 redundancies, as it carries out an operational review which it said was "triggered by the worldwide escalation of raw materials and soaring energy and fuel costs".

Greggs has appointed Ken McMeikan, currently retail director at Sainsbury's, to succeed Sir Michael Darrington at the helm of the company.

for Northern Ireland have put Allied Bakeries Ireland (ABI) as Belfast's top-selling bakery, showing that the company controls the top two bread brands in the province.

Leading figures from across the baking industry are being invited to join a representative steering group to push forward plans for a new National Skills Academy for Bakery, following a successful skills summit at the Baking Industry Exhibition last week.

Tesco profits soar

Bradford-based Harden Fine Foods, which supplies mini-bite flapjacks, brownies and cakes to in-store bakeries in supermarkets as well as restaurants and coffee shops, has been bought by CSM for £6.4 million. The Netherlands firm already owns BakeMark UK and Kate's Cakes.

Exhibitors and visitors alike expressed satisfaction over the Baking Industry Exhibition (BIE), which took place at Birmingham NEC on 6-9 April. Many standholders have already signed for the next show, which will take place in two years' time.

Rank Hovis, the miller, has announced a price rise, effective immediately. Flour has risen £34.38p a tonne, equivalent to 55p per 16kg bag.

UK bake-off and food-to-go giant Country Choice is planning to take on rival Cuisine de France (CDF) on its own turf, by entering the Northern Irish market, which the latter dominates.

The Finsbury Food Group has strengthened its operations in the ‘free-from gluten’ market with the £8.9 million acquisition of Yorkshire Farm Bakery (YFB) and A&P Foods.

Are you planning a store expansion strategy? Want to corner your market? This is the tale of how Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ guru, did quite literally that, en route to achieving his modest target of 40,000 outlets (scarily, the company claims it’s still on track to hit that).

Early English rhubarb is coming into season now. Forced rhubarb has a more delicate flavour and a less woody stem than the outdoor garden type. It is very versatile and, apart from being used in pies, tarts and crumbles, it is also good when added to muffins, cakes, traybakes and strudels.

Last week I took a call from BB asking if I’d like to become a regular columnist, and I thought, ‘At last! I’ve found a new audience for my ever-rising enthusiasm for all things baking.’

"One of my aspirations was to source as much local food as we can. We are looking into a sty containing four happy, fat Gloucester Old Spot piglets, just across the road from the café where their meat will eventually be served." - Leona Williamson of St Werburghs City Farm Café in Bristol wins The Guardian's outstanding ethical achievement award for its piggy proximity. 31 March

...the calorie intake of kids aged 3 to 16 in Scotland, from sugars added to food, table sugars and fruit juices, accor-ding to FSAS. With the government target at 10%, cakes, biscuits and confectionery are blamed.

Fancy bread remains as far from definition as ever. The time has arrived to take action, and fancy bread ought to be put once and for all out of the region of anomalies and made thoroughly intelligible both to producer and consumer.

New York is widely acknowledged as the epicentre of food-to-go trends. But here's one we're hoping won't catch on in the UK: apple-smoked bacon, half-coated lengthwise by a layer of chocolate.

For those of you unfamiliar with the great man, the wholegrain bread-fixated godfather of the brand that still bears his name was a prophet of healthy living. But there was so much more to his repertoire, which should be a moral satnav for our own times.

Yes, we know it's childish. We know it should be beneath us. But we couldn't help sniggering at some of the exhibitors' names at French bakery show Europain this week. Such schoolboy tittering is unbecoming, but to puerile Brit journalists, this is what visiting overseas trade events is all about.

Real Food's ground-breaking format reflects the focus given to food standards - in particular, provenance and sustainability. It is both a trade and consumer show, with a dedicated trade day on Thursday 24 April. Tickets for the dedicated trade day cost £20 (including VAT), which includes the entrance fee, the gala evening, complimentary producer sampling of ingredients and workshops. Bakery exhibitors include De Gustibus, Flour Power City Baker and The Flour Station.

April 6 - 9

Tony Sharpe Renshaw

What's your job and what are your day-to-day responsibilities?

Separated by just a couple of hours on the Eurostar, the French and UK bakery scenes might as well be worlds apart. The first hint of this comes when you ask a French baker about the local baking industry. They immediately recoil at the mere mention of the word "industry". In their eyes, it's seen as the antithesis of craft - if not another name for Beelzebub.

Enjoyment, indulgence and the growth of the café culture are the main ingredients of the recipe for muffins' booming success. One measure of this is the decision by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) last month to add them to the basket of goods it uses to determine the retail price index.

When somebody asks you, 'Do you like the taste of hospital food?', it's usually because you've spilt somebody's pint in a packed Wetherspoon's. Last month, British Baker had to ponder this question when we attended a taste test of baked goods, supplied into Southampton University Hospital. And it wasn't without a similar sense of Friday night trepidation. This was a gluten-free taste test.

What's a company to do when it's wrapped up a quarter of the UK's manufactured sandwich trade in over a quarter of a decade? Why, take over the US market too, obviously. Greencore's declared - and frankly, long-awaited - ambition to get involved in convenience foods in the US, a country with untapped potential for large-scale chilled foods manufacture, is finally nearing fruition. A small team has been busying itself with this project for the past year and a decision is due in the "relatively near future," says chief operating officer Tony Hynes.

Well, another financial year has gone and trade has been pretty good. We could always have done with more, but we have eaten regularly. At this time of year, we now start thinking about how we will survive another year.

Last week I took a call from BB asking if I'd like to become a regular columnist, and I thought, 'At last! I've found a new audience for my ever-rising enthusiasm for all things baking.' But where to start? My five-minute verbal stream, spilling out like dough on the move, covered some of the issues of the moment: my relief at getting five stars at our third shop in the EHO's 'Scores on the Doors' scheme; and a recently revived Lardy cake recipe, generously shared with me by Ro Richards, who although in his 90s, spent a day with me in the bakery, passing on the recipe and, vitally, his time-honoured method. Then there's my work with Theo Guy at Bristol City college to introduce a Craft Bakery Modern Apprenticeship scheme; the reaction of our customers to the foreign taste of Oil of Cassia in our proper Easter biscuits.

Are you planning a store expansion strategy? Want to corner your market? This is the tale of how Howard Schultz, Starbucks' guru, did quite literally that, en route to achieving his modest target of 40,000 outlets (scarily, the company claims it's still on track to hit that).

Early English rhubarb is coming into season now. Forced rhubarb has a more delicate flavour and a less woody stem than the outdoor garden type. It is very versatile and, apart from being used in pies, tarts and crumbles, it is also good when added to muffins, cakes, traybakes and strudels.

Select Bag Sealers (SBS), which manufactures and supplies tape bag sealers, has launched the high-speed Flexi-Sealer. The sealer can cater for different product widths and incorporates a no-seal detector which, when coupled with the standard tape run-out detector, ensures that any potentially unsealed products, due to bagger misfeeds, are caught.

Robot Coupe has introduced an R-Mix function as standard on a number of the machines in its vertical cutter mixer range. R-Mix - meaning reverse-mixing - makes it possible to add delicate foodstuffs such as chopped dried fruit or chocolate pieces to a processed mix such as dough, while keeping them whole.

For kitchens where space is at a premium, refrigeration specialist Katermart has launched a durable, slim-fit counter refrigerator for salad and cold food preparation.

So what's new?

Marco Beverage Systems has added self-service coffee brewers to its range. The machines can be operated on one side by customers and by staff from the other side.

Fresh Shakes supplier Dinkum Products has ditched polystyrene cups for paper. The branded cups, lids and straws are supplied free with each 1.8kg tub of Fresh Shakes thick milkshakes. Director Ken Richards said paper cups have a better image with customers. Dinkum is offering free, no obligation, demonstrations anywhere in the UK of any or all of their concepts. To book your demonstration contact Dinkum direct on 0121 245 1945 or through its website.

Emmi has launched a Caffè Latte in a plastic cup with a resealable lid designed for sale at both cafés and shops.

Café Bar has launched an Italian-manufactured espresso unit, CMA-Planet. The classic-looking espresso machine is available in a range of configurations to suit a variety of businesses. The machine is available in single, double, triple or quad-brew versions and the operator can choose between automatic and semi-automatic modes. Semi-automatic systems function via a stop/start switch, which begins the brewing process. Once coffee extraction is complete the process is stopped manually.

A new English mineral water brand is aimed at ethically-conscious consumers. Iceni Water is bottled at source in Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

Aimia Foods has launched a new range of Slazenger S1 'hypotonic' sports drinks in Orange and Mixed Berry flavours.

Lucozade Sport will be supported with an £8 million TV and press campaign this year.

'Better for you' choices emerged as the biggest growth area in soft drinks retail last year, according to the latest research, as bakers were urged to diversify their drinks offering, reports Andrew Williams.

When your customers are rushing to catch the 06.59 from Reading to Paddington, there is no time to get your product offering wrong. That's why, even after 15 years of running coffee kiosks at major UK stations and airports, AMT Coffee regards quick service and using exceptional ingredients, such as 100% Fairtrade coffee and organic milk, as key. It also holds customer loyalty very dear, and even today, despite around 80% of customers repeat purchasing up to five times a week, the managing director reads every single customer comment.

Despite widespread press coverage about rocketing wheat prices, day-to-day pricing has been much more volatile, says Savage, who is not surprised by the Homegrown Cereals Authority's latest statistics.

Bakers in Gaza went on strike last week after the ruling Hamas organisation refused to let them put up bread prices to cope with a shortage of goods, resulting from restrictions imposed by Israel. A 3kg bag of pitta bread sells for $2.30 and bakeries want to increase it to $2.50. The price in the West Bank is as high as $4.20. Osama al-Duleimi, a partner in a Gaza bakery, told Business Week that he had lost $15,000 of his own money trying to stop the business going bust.

Heinz Foodservice is targeting four key categories of consumers after identifying massive untapped potential in the breakfast market, with research showing that 52% of people had not eaten breakfast out-of-home in the last three months.

As part of the British Sandwich Association's annual industry awards, I have had the dubious honour of sampling some 45 new sandwiches and 40 new ingredients that have been launched into the market over the last 12 months.

Northern Foods' bakery division showed "encouraging signs of recovery", with fourth quarter underlying revenue up 1.1%, according to the company's latest trading update.

Compass points to positive cost control

Uniq, the European convenience foods group, returned to profitability in the UK, according to preliminary company results for 2007. However, the group's overall pre-tax losses stood at £44.1 million after significant items, including restructuring costs.

Support for charity

Susina Maiden, 17, is already mapping out her career path to launch her own bakery business in Solihull, after graduating from Warburtons Young Bakers Aca-demy. After completing a three- month course at the academy at the University College of Bir-mingham, she has now embarked on an NVQ Level One in baking skills. She said: "I love baking and really enjoyed the practical side of the course. To be able to continue to learn more about the business side of baking is really interesting. I am now studying cake decoration, confectionery, and bread production, all of which will help me reach my goal to own my own bakery business in Solihull."

A Sussex bakery has launched a new 'Text your lunch' service. Customers text the bakery, which then calls them back and takes their lunch order by phone, so that it can be prepared for collection.

Bread basket recovery firm Bakers Basco says it will investigate any complaints about its workers' conduct.

Q What is Doughnut Week?

The £90 million rebuilding of Tameside College will herald an exciting period of growth for the bakery department, with more students, even better equipment and closer links with schools and employers, said head of food and hospitality studies Chris Massey.

Genesis gets Crafty on tourism drive

has launched a fruit flapjack into shops across north-west England to raise money for its 2008 Local Hero campaign. For each flapjack sold, Greenhalgh's will give 5p to a fund that will help several charities in the region. The first of these charities, The Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team, helped get Greenhalgh's campaign under way, outside its Bank Street shop, Warrington.

France tops the world

Sandwich bar and coffee chain O'Briens plans to open a further 15 franchise units by the end of this year, with a focus on north- east England and the Midlands.

Creditors of the Fabulous Bakin' Boys Manufacturing (FBBM) are still in limbo, waiting to see if they will get any of the money owed from the collapsed firm.

With the deadline now extended to 16 May, there is still time to get your entries in for this year's Baking Industry Awards.

One of the most well-respected figures in the Northern Ireland baking industry has retired after 37 years. Mervyn Hempton, operations manager at Allied Bakeries Ireland, worked hard to build the Belfast-based company with his younger brother, Alan.

Irish bakery McCambridge revealed it has weathered the twin storms of commodity price rises and disgruntled creditors, as it continues to turn around former troubled bakery giant Inter Link Foods.

Giving his first interview since being appointed chief executive of McCambridge in February, Gavin Cox, who joined as finance director last year, told British Baker that, nine months after acquiring Inter Link out of administration, the business was back on track.

Greggs has unveiled plans to spend £20 million in the north west, with a new bakery and shops. Some of the shops will be located at out-of-town retail parks and one will be built at Manchester Airport to tap into changing customer demands.

Welcome to the new-look British Baker, incorporating Bake & Take magazine! We are bigger, brighter and there are other major developments too.