A family-run bakery has added a new product to their award-winning range after enjoying impressive post covid sales figures.
Shipley based Just Desserts’ new Spicy Ginger Traybake, which picked up a prestigious 2 star award at this year’s Great Taste Awards, is aimed at the farm shop and cafe markets in response to an increasing demand for quality baked vegan goods.
The new traybake joins the bakery’s other successful vegan products in their range which includes cakes, brownies and oatie crumbles and offers a deliciously dark and sticky ginger sponge made with muscovado sugar, black treacle, packed with mixed spices.
The product launch comes as the West Yorkshire bakery enjoys a resurgence in the post Covid market, seeing sales and trading 10% ahead of like for like sales in 2019 when it also saw a 33% uplift. The rise comes despite challenges faced due to Covid which decimated the foodservice and hospitality markets over the last 18 months.
Founded by husband and wife team James and Carol O’Dwyer more than 36 years ago in a small unit in Bradford’s Salts Mill, the team completed a £160K expansion project to future proof the site just as the country was locked down in March 2020. The investment spanned building works to increase the bakery footprint by more than 60%, new equipment, installation of a larger freezer and increased storage capacity, as well as a new NPD area, improved staff facilities and the addition of new mezzanine floor for a meeting/board room.
The production team has also grown to 20-strong with the appointment of four new bakers, as well as a Business Development Manager and a new driver who has been hired to support distribution demands via its fleet of vans.
Managing Director James O’Dwyer said: “As with so many businesses, the pandemic created some extraordinary difficulties and challenges for us and we are delighted to have been able to cope with them and in fact bounce back better than ever. Our new look bakery is more streamlined, allowing improved productivity and we have a very strong bakery team in place to help meet the increasing demand for our products.
“Our latest product launch complements our Vegan product offer, which is seeing strong demand from customers who are looking to serve a wider Vegan product range in their cafes, farm shops and restaurants. We are confident this will be another fantastic addition to this burgeoning market.”
For more information on Just Desserts and their award-winning range of products visit www.just-desserts.co.uk