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

 

6 not 5 Benefits to GDPR

by mrbakestone, posted in Debate

Perceived knowledge is that there are 5 benefits to having the rules changed for GDPR and they are as follows.

  1. Improved Consumer confidence
  2. Better data security
  3. Reduced maintenance costs
  4. Better alignment with evolving technology
  5. greater decision making.

Well  in my opinion the one benefit that everyone doesn’t talk about is of the greatest benefit to most businesses and that is a culling of Spam. I receive about 90 a day from companies I have not signed up for or asked for details on. I spend ages unsubscribing to them, but they seem to breed even more as they are unsubscribed..

Now, because we have to opt in, they shouldn’t be able to send me anymore of their unwanted emails. Rest assured I won’t be opting in to loads of them and it will give me less work deleting them.

I might get some proper work done now. (might)

 

St Georges Day

by mrbakestone, posted in Debate

Should we make St Georges day a National Holiday?

St George’s Day was declared as a national feast day in 1415 and used to be largely celebrated in England, but following the unification with Scotland in May, 1707, the day has become less significant.

Now people go to work as normal, although in recent years there’s been a push to make the day a National Holiday again – we could replace one of the May bank holidays as they are too close together.

The day is not a national public holiday, although campaigners say it is unfair that Ireland and Scotland are granted a bank holiday for St Patrick’s Day and St Andrew’s Day, while the English are not.

St Georges Day Bakestone Dragon.png If we were to have a National Holiday like a bank holiday then St Georges day would become as popular as St Patricks Day which is really well celebrated ,also St. Andrews Day and St Davids day were they are public holidays in their own right.

How can you celebrate St George’s Day?

Fancy a pint? Throughout the country, pubs celebrate by decorating their venues with the St George’s cross, offering people the chance to celebrate together with a few drinks.

Fervent English fans mark the day up and down the country with parades, dancing and waving flags from buildings and pubs. Some people wear a rose, England’s national flower, on their lapel.

The hymn of Jerusalem is traditionally sung on the day and Morris Dancers often perform around the country.

As well as being the Patron Saint of England, St George is the Patron Saint of Scouting and around April 23 scouts often hold celebrations such as parades and faith services.

Let’s Toast St Georges Day

“factual source from the Telegraph newspaper”

 

The Beast from the East, a week in the Bakery industry to forget!

by mrbakestone, posted in Latest News 
My thoughts on this tough week in our business

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Everyone of our staff have been amazing this last week in getting into work. I would personally like to thank all them. Some ares of the North have been particularly bad, Newcastle and Carlisle to name a few. The earlier part of the week saw some major disruption to our operations up there. Temperatures at night have been freezing and the night shifts have gone the extra mile working in those conditions.

Thursday onwards saw Caernarfon depot suffer in parts and we had a fantastic response with the team in there, so well done again to all of you.

The temperatures for everyone has been really cold and the phones and emails have kept us all very busy in planning what was coming into us for distribution. We prioritised the NHS accounts first as we saw those accounts obviously as very vital, given the work the hospital staff do for all of us. Our customers have been very understanding as well.

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Our suppliers have been immense too and pulled out all the stops to ensure that we got our bread delivered into us for distribution.

So thank you again for all your efforts and hopefully this time next week the weather will be a little kinder.

Championing great value bread

by mrbakestone, posted in Debate, Latest News

Coultons – we’re Championing a great value for money loaf for the convenience sector.

Just a few years ago, the Great British public were a very brand conscious bunch, but things have changed, changed quickly and they continue to do so and none more so than in the category of food.

Since the surge in growth of discounters in the UK, we have as a nation become accustomed to shopping in stores that carry virtually no well-known brands what-so-ever.  This has created a cultural change in shopping habits across the high-street and supermarkets as consumers are more willing to be curious and explore what is on offer.  Retailers have upgraded own-label offerings, introduced sub-brands to compete with the discounters creating a surge in growth of private label across categories.

At Coultons Bread Limited, we’re embracing this with our very own brands that can champion great quality and competitiveness for retail convenience.  Our range of 800g & 700g retail loaves in Bakestone, Happy Bread or Hethertons branding present opportunities for the convenience sector to compete with the supermarkets by offering a quality loaf that can compete with the buying power of those businesses.

 

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Our heart and soul are with the convenience sector, we don’t supply the supermarkets and our brands therefore remain exclusive to the convenience retail sector and catering services.

Our brands represent great value for money and in terms of quality, we produce them to exacting standards that match those of the high street brands.

Within the sliced bread sector, private label is the fastest growing area of the market driven by the supermarkets.  Our positioning at Coultons is clear.  We’ll keep our range simple and focus on the core SKUs of White, Wholemeal & White&Wholemeal (we call it Brite – it’s a little bit of Brown and a little bit of White).  We’ll offer these exclusively for the retail convenience sector at comparable quality to the major brands and at a price that will compete with the supermarkets.

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We are well and truly on your side.  We’re keeping one step ahead of the market trends, so you can rely on us to deliver for the market that we solely represent.  We’re Championing Great Value & Quality in Convenience Retail.

Meeting customer expectations

by mrbakestone, posted in Feature

Of the groceries which are at the heart of the staple diet for most people in Britain, it’s usually milk and bread which are used in “price wars” between retailers. Both are the most purchased grocery items in the UK today, and the perception is that consumers will take all of their grocery shopping to the store where they find they can get one or both of these the cheapest.

Whilst price is certainly an important factor for shoppers, when it comes to bread it is not quite as decisive or as important as reports sometimes suggest. In the overwhelming majority of cases, consumers want quality, freshness and choice, and it is these factors which determine their shopping habits as well as price. Although obviously people do not have a “spare no expense” approach to buying bread, it is nonetheless clear that quality is crucial when they are choosing where to shop.

We are committed to making sure you can harness all of these factors in your shop. Our bread and bakery category features close to a thousand different products, and we are perpetually adding to the selection. This means that whatever your customers are looking for in your bakery section, we are the people to supply it. We also deliver it at a time and on a frequency which suits you. Whether it’s early morning or late afternoons that would suit you best, or whether you need daily or weekly deliveries, we will work with you to get a time in place that ensures maximum freshness for your customers.

Costing is of course an important factor. That’s why we strive to present the most affordable service, allowing you to make savings which can be passed on to your customers. We firmly believe that it is possible to deliver high quality service at a low cost, and time and again we have proudly delivered on this belief. Over the course of the last three decades we have been able to provide outstanding bespoke bread supply, and we are ready to provide the same for your business.

 

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New Year, New Opportunities

by mrbakestone, posted in Feature

Coultons New van

Convenience shops need a flexible supplier if they are to meet the needs of their customers effectively. The size of many shops makes it impossible to store a huge volume of goods, so regular deliveries are likely to be necessary to maintain stock levels. This can prove to be a risk if you don’t choose reliable suppliers who will deliver on time whenever you place an order. However, it can also be an advantage, with more space freed up and less risk of waste.

One of the most frequent deliveries you will need to organise is bread. The shelf life of pre-wrapped loaves is generally three or four days. You need to be aware of consumer habits too and the fact that people are unlikely to buy a loaf if it only has a day or two before the best before date. This means regular deliveries of smaller amounts may be a better option for your business.

We provide a dedicated bread supply service in the North West for convenience stores, and have tailored our services to ensure they are as flexible as possible. We can cater for all kinds of requirements, arranging delivery schedules to suit each specific client. You can rely on us to get fresh premium baked products to you exactly when you need them, whether that is several times a week or just once a week.

The daily range of all the bread brands, including Hovis, Warburtons, Kingsmill, Roberts plus our own bread brands of Hethertons, Happy Bread and Bakestone  is such that we have become the North’s one stop shop solution for all bakery needs

We have expanded our service over the years, entering new markets gradually to ensure there is no adverse effect on the services we offer in our established areas. We can meet the needs of store owners throughout the region, so if you would like to discuss your needs with us please feel free to get in touch.

VIDEO: Roberts Bakery reveals its next steps

by mrbakestone, posted in Latest News

Roberts Bakery has revealed its plans for the business, including the roll out of more ‘innovative’ NPD in May 2018, following a major relaunch in S… Visit http://www.bakeryinfo.co.uk today for more information!

Source: VIDEO: Roberts Bakery reveals its next steps