Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland – in partnership with Food Standards Scotland (FSS) – has provided funding to 13 Scottish bakery businesses to help them make their products healthier.
Brands such as Aulds Delicious Desserts, Cobbs Bakery, Dean’s of Huntly and Stoats and Stockan’s Oatcakes have been awarded funding, while a whole host of high street bakers – the Bread Guy, Cuckoo’s Bakery, Fisher & Donaldson, George Marchbank Bakers, the Hame Bakery and Three Sisters Bake – have received support. Specialist cake maker Northern Lights Cakery and the Bread for Good Community Benefit Society have also received funding.
FDF Scotland will support these food businesses with projects that it said will help improve the nutritional content of a variety of savoury and sweet bakery products including oatcakes, bread, cakes, desserts and biscuits. Some projects will look to help reduce calories, fat and sugar content while others will reformulate products with added fibre or fruit and vegetables.
The Healthier Bakery Fund has provided successful applicants with funds from £1,000 to £5,000 to be used for a wide range of activities. These activities include:
- accessing nutritional testing and technical support
- working with ingredient suppliers to access and trial solutions that can improve the health of products
- developing new marketing and promotional materials.
Joanne Burns, FDF Scotland’s reformulation for health manager, said: “I am delighted to award funding to a wide range of popular bakery producers in communities right across Scotland. We had so many great applications – which gave the judges a tough time in picking the projects to fund.
“I can’t wait to start working on these interesting projects – together we will be helping to make some of Scotland’s favourite bakery products healthier.”
Lesley Curtis, public health nutrition advisor at FSS, said: “Evidence shows reformulation, for example by reducing portion size or calories, is one of the most effective ways industry can help improve dietary health in Scotland.
“FSS is pleased to be supporting the Scottish bakery sector engage in reformulating their products, which can lead to a positive change to public health.”
This comes as Scotland’s HFSS bill was pushed back to be reviewed in autumn, and Wales ruled that it will bring in HFSS legislation as of 2024.
