Shipley bakery launches first retail cake brand
AFTER more than 30 years as a supplier to the foodservice market, Shipley-based bakery, Just Desserts has launched its own retail brand of family sized cakes aimed at independent delis, farm shops, garden centres and high end retail outlets.
The family run, award winning bakers and patissiers have created a small range of traditional, handmade cakes, including Victoria Sponge; Lemon Drizzle and its Salted Caramel Cake, which has already picked up the Best Bakery Product in the November 2016 Yorkshire’s Finest Taste Awards run by Deliciouslyorkshire and The Yorkshire Post.
All three cakes, made to tried and tested recipes, are available in new packaging designed with a strong provenance message to reflect the handcrafted qualities of the product and light-hearted image for shelf appeal.
Just Desserts plans to add to this initial range with new flavours such as Coffee and Walnut, Chocolate and Blueberry and Vanilla.
The handmade desserts specialist has seen sales increase across its foodservice customer base in the last few years, which has led to expansion into a third unit to grow the footprint of the business by 50 per cent. This move into developing a retail cake brand forms part of the company’s strategy to develop new channels for its products outside its core market.
James O’Dwyer, managing director, Just Desserts commented: “We bake more than 130 premium products for the foodservice sector, but recognised the opportunity to market a branded cake to high end retailers.
“We have already seen a surge in business for our foodservice products across garden centre cafes, so it wasn’t too big a leap for the business to use tried and tested recipes to develop a cake range that would be appeal to premium retailers. Customers are enjoying our products in cafes, so we wanted to make our cakes available for them to enjoy at home. We are confident that the new range will be well received,” continued James.
Just Desserts produces a wide range of premium desserts and pastries which are traditionally handcrafted to its own recipes. The company was established by husband and wife team James and Carol O’Dwyer in 1985 when they made their first cake at the famous Salts Mill, Bradford. Since then the company has won many awards and gained an enviable reputation among its hospitality and foodservice clients.
The bakery has also supplied high street names, including Selfridges and Waterstones Café ‘W’.
