Ingredients manufacturer Zeelandia has hosted a workshop for bakery students at Barking & Dagenham College.

As part of its programme to support bakery colleges nationally, which started last September, the workshop aimed to teach students to mix, hand-mould and make sourdough. This was followed by learning the “science behind baking”.

Andrew Taylor, technical and development specialist at Zeelandia, demonstrated how the characteristics of bread change when different ingredients are added, as well as some of the bread production processes used. 

Students were also able to question Taylor about career routes in the industry.

He said: “The baking industry has such a wide range of careers available that people just don’t know about and, with the workshop, we were able to give students an insight into all the opportunities there are. 

“It’s important to us that we support the bakers of the future and help further develop the industry. Linking with colleges such as Barking & Dagenham is one way for us to help do this.”

Kelly Andrews, bakery lecturer, added: “The students were really enthused by the session and it was great for them to learn about the industry and the science behind baking in a fun way.”