During lockdown

Featured by mrbakestone, posted in Debate

People, after we start our “new normal” life I ask that you all remember the local convenience stores that supplied you when you didn’t have to queue for hours outside Tesco, Asda etc. when their shelves were bare. You couldn’t get a home delivery from them either as they didn’t have delivery slots. When in normal times they were offering free delivery or vouchers , but now as they get more organised they start charging you an increase to £7 per delivery!

Typical empty shelves in supermarkets

The small businesses were there to supply and support their local people. Without them our own business supplying to these frontline, mainly family businesses would have been a bigger disaster than ever.

The numerous fruit and veg guys who have started delivering milk, bread etc. plus fresh fruit and vegetables, some even supply pasta! whilst doing deliveries to your doorstep free of charge (minimum order value same as supermarkets deliveries) is really appreciated. Also remember the long queues you had to endure!

This queue went around the corner and filled the car park!

Personally I accept that the major supermarket chains have a better selection with toiletries, pharmacy , post office etc and most people will drift back there when we can go out and carry on our lives, but please do spare a thought for your small local business moving forward. appreciate that they are a little more expensive, but the money does stay in your community. They offer services like paying your electricity bill, lottery tickets and in some cases parcel returns etc. If you only buy a few extra items from them then our wonderful nation of shopkeepers can continue.

The biggest concern for bakery is the cost of distribution

Featured by mrbakestone, posted in Debate

The cost of delivery is usually based on the MOQ (minimum order quantity), in other words the volume of product that the customer would like delivering to their business. This cost is ever increasing due to the obvious rises in labour, vehicle renewal, more efficient emission operated vehicles, more cities wanting a congestion charge. The list goes on and on.

If a customer only requires, for instance, 10 loaves of bread, that leaves you with an approximate profit of £1.30. You can see for yourselves that the true cost of delivering is a lot higher, in fact it costs nearer to £3.33p. This is based on the vehicle and all the vehicle costs, staff etc and the vehicle making 40 calls a day on his route 6 days a week. Obviously the cost to deliver will come down if the customer has a higher quantity. ie. if the delivery is 30 loaves a drop using the same costs then the cost to deliver is still the same, but there is a small profit now of 57p.

  • Another Co-op bakery van, well before my time.
This would be a lot cheaper to deliver with.

The supermarket chains have different problems to smaller businesses. They buy in larger numbers, reducing their cost base, and they also sell on to a consumer cheaper , but they more likely to be making multiple purchases of different products. Let’s face it hardly anyone goes to a large supermarket for a loaf. Even their online offering usually has a delivery charge, and frequently makes charges for orders below a certain value.

How do we get around this?

Given that most packaged bread has at least 5 days’ shelf life, a solution is to take deliveries only 2 or 3 times a week. It means that you can technically take on more deliveries using the days that you don’t use the vehicle , therefore using 1 vehicle instead of 2. For example, a van goes out Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on one route, and the same van goes out Monday, Wednesday and Friday on another route.

The other choices are that the shop takes in more products to help ease the cost of delivery, or they pay more for the service. Greggs have just started online but there is a delivery charge for their £1 sausage roll of £2.50 and you also have to place a minimum order of £10.

Smaller bakeries in a whole world of pain in 2019

Featured by mrbakestone, posted in Latest News

Since the beginning of this year we have seen small wholesale bakeries closing down or going bust due to the economic position we find ourselves in. Manchester has lost 3 wholesale bakers and Liverpool has lost 1.These were good businesses that were family run and operated for many years before closing.

How can this have happened?

Several factors for this is the ongoing increases in wages each April. I agree that a fair pay is the minimum any worker should receive for a fair days pay, but bakeries cannot seem to pass on these extra costs to their customers as they just won’t accept as they too are in the same boat as everyone else. The pension scheme that the government added a further burden to businesses already trying to go about their day to day operations.

What can we do?

Really? the answer is support your local bakery or business in any case. If your £1 is spent in the shop it stays in the community. We don’t want to see shops closing and bakeries failing just because the supermarket is cheaper.

Sourdough and Seeds

Featured by mrbakestone, posted in Debate

Why is sourdough bread easy to digest and doesn’t cause bloating.

Wheat grains contain phytic acid and can be a cause for digestive discomfort and bloating. This phytic acid inhibits enzymes which are needed for the breakdown of proteins and starch in the stomach. It is this lack of enzymes which results in digestive difficulties.

If you eat sourdough that is mixed with Rye flour then you get the best tasting natural product for you stomach due to wild yeast and lactobacillus in the leaven which neutralise the phytic acid  as the bread proves through the acidification of the dough. This prevents the effects of the phytic acid and makes the bread easier for us to digest. Sourdough bread also takes longer to digest; studies have shown that rye flour added to sourdough can help regulate blood sugar levels which helps ward off diabetes. (source: The sourdough school)

Seeds are rich in nutrients and have many health benefits. Did you that a small spoonful of poppy seeds can give you your daily intake of phosphorus, calcium and iron. Sesame seeds are also good for your body as they represent 20% of protein and fibre and have a cholesterol lowering effect.

for more information about our new Sourdough range of breads take a look at http://www.coultonsbread.co.uk

 

Doughnuts

by mrbakestone, posted in Buns, Cakes

I thought I would talk to you about Doughnuts and the fact that it is #National Doughnut week. Introducing our brand new range of doughnuts ourselves and priced to be affordable alternative to the brands that are well know out there.

3 ring doughnut pack

Our new packaging is light and the box is solid so that you can get them home undamaged. There 3 different types in a box and my favourite one is definitely the Lemon topped variety. They taste fresh, light and not greasy at all. We are distributing this range under the “Ann’s sweets” as there will be more cake products introduced as the year moves by.

The name is derived from ‘dough’, which is what the rings are typically made from. There are two common spellings of the dessert; doughnut and donut. The former is considered the UK spelling and the latter the Americanised version. … Dictionary.com lists doughnutas the primary spelling, with donut as an alternative.

We will be launching at the end on May and initially the shops that will have them on sale will be in Liverpool and Manchester areas. For those business who are going to have a good sell through rate we will also supply a free display stand to help display our products.

4 layers for our products.

Any enquiries can be made by emailing our sales@coultonsbread.co.uk

New Products

by mrbakestone, posted in Debate

I can’t believe that we are nearing Easter , time really does go quickly when you are busy and making sure that you have all the products and offer a good delivery service to your customers. We have newly listed some products and re-designed packaging on our bakery favourites since February so here is a snapshot so far how we are doing.

New Products

We have started selling a range of Polish sourdough breads baked by Polish Village bakery and supplying many new customers in Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester.We also deliver to their customers on their behalf to provide a logistics service for them.

 

Our Bakestone Price marked bread has had a new design and relaunch and that has proved very popular.Our existing customers are still showing support and our bread sales are increasing on this range with like for like sales.

BAKESTONE_GROUP_4_LOAVES_1400 3

Long life Hot Cross Buns are selling like hot cakes and why wouldn’t they. Shops can fill their shelves with them and have no waste, plus maximising sales as they always have them on shelf.

Hot X Buns

Export sales going well as we now supply a customer in the Cayman Islands. All in all a very busy couple of months,

 

You can follow us on twitter for more info on a much more regular basis https://twitter.com/Coultons_Bread

 

 

Latest Update

by mrbakestone, posted in Latest News

COULTONS-MANCHESTER-DEPOT-LOGO

 

Well, after 10 years at our old site in Eccles we have made the move away to a new site less than 3 miles away in Worsley, Manchester. Having manufactured and supplied some of the biggest retail supermarkets and discounters we made the decision to stop baking for them. The prices we were being paid did not make it worthwhile. I accept that is the way of the world and we ourselves do shop at some of these stores and want good value but if you can’t afford to sell at the low prices viably then it’s time to give up.

On a brighter note we are really happy with our new site in Worsley and all the staff are happy with the project of relocating and starting fresh. The new site is approx 4,000sq ft smaller overall, but with the offices now upstairs it still leaves the despatch area larger than the previous site. The new signage is done and looks a lot smarter as we still use our local trading name Quayside Bakery. The main reason for moving was to reduce costs in rent and rates of course.

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view of the boardroom

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Site managers desk

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general open plan