Speciality Food Magazine June 2024

and ethics involved, but the fact that organic food and drink is regulated, and rarely (if ever) ultra processed. Dawn Reade of Island Biscuits has seen an increase in sales, especially for the brand’s Lemon Melts, but with the Orange Melts coming in a close second as citrussy flavours make an impact. What makes a great biscuit in Dawn’s eyes, though is that it’s “got to have chocolate on it”. A chocolate biscuit, Dawns says “is one of life’s great pleasures. It’s something delightful you can immediately give to guests with a nice cup of tea or coffee, without spending a morning baking!” Customers love that Island Bakery products are organic, sustainable, and as close to home made as possible. “Being organic rules out artificial flavours and colourings, and ties in with people who are looking for more natural products,” Dawn suggests. “They can taste the difference. The real lemon oil from the peel, real stem ginger in the ginger biscuits, real pieces of apple in the Apple Crumbles. Obviously including luxury gifting tins, and at multiple price points to make the Great British biscuit tradition as accessible as it can be, to as many people as possible. Tudor agrees that traditional biscuits are worth investing in, saying sweet biscuits is a key category for its largest customer groups. “Farmhouse Biscuits and Walkers Shortbread continue to do well,” he says, adding that Holleys’ exclusive brands, including Bakewell and Browne, and Oui Love it! have grown in popularity too. Natural and sustainable Organic products are going from strength to strength, with sales driven not only by the sustainability specialityfoodmagazine.com 17 moments, whether with old classics, or something new.” What sets a good biscuit apart is attention to detail throughout the process, she continues, adding that the brand’s products are “labour intensive and artisan. Everything is hand weighed and hand packed. It means we can maintain quality all the way through.” Apart from Oat Flips, the team are currently seeing good uptake in flavours from Farmhouse Biscuits’ English Garden range, such as Strawberry & Clotted Cream, and Honey & Oats. New Christmas products are now open for orders, available (as is the entirety of the Farmhouse Biscuits collection) in a range of formats People buy our products because they remind themof going to their grandma’s house and having tea and a nice treat.We find nostalgic themed products do reallywell for us DEBBIE HAMMONDS, FARMHOUSE BISCUITS they are all-butter recipes too. You can really taste the butter.” Dawn says the world of gluten- free biscuits has also opened the team’s eyes, following the launch of the Sweet FA brand, dreamt up by one of their longest serving employees, Fiona Aitali. “She joined us 30 years ago. Fiona is an amazingly good baker, and had been unwell for a while,” Dawn explains. “Eventually she was diagnosed as a coeliac. It was a real shock for her because she loves baking. When she wasn’t at work, she was baking for friends and family.” Fiona was “gutted”, wondering if she would ever be able to set foot in the bakery again, but approached Dawn, to see if she’d be up for her developing a gluten-free range. “She had the idea of calling it Sweet FA based on her initials,” Dawn laughs, adding, “and it sounds a bit cheeky too!” Many, many recipes and formulations were trialled, with a key mandate that the finished products shouldn’t be sandy or gritty – something Dawn hates. “So often these biscuits will taste nice, but you’re left with a sandy texture, usually because of rice flour.” The Sweet FA range had to be “biscuits even people who aren’t coeliac or gluten intolerant could enjoy...not second best!” Made with tapioca and gluten- free oats, and dairy and palm oil free as well as organic, Sweet FA products have made steady progress in the three years since launching, demonstrating, says Dawn, a real desire for exceptional products that ‘taste like the real thing’ in this category. Matthew Chiles of Gourmet Partners, which supplies Olina’s products into the UK fine food arena, says gluten free is a category to watch in sweet and savoury biscuits, with “staggering growth” reported via analysts, despite only one in 100 people in Britain having coeliac disease, according to Mordor Intelligence. “We are seeing a huge spike in sales of our Simply Seed range – a nutritious combination of linseeds, sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds and black and white sesame seeds,” says Matthew, adding that there “seems to be an overlap, as consumers without underlying health issues, or with keto diets, are just enjoying the idea of snacks that taste great and are made from healthier ingredients.” Gourmet Partners’ own data confirms its Simply Seed Pumpkin Flatbreads are now outselling all other products, including the core range and popular Seeded Toasts and Wafer Crackers. The bakery sells its hero cookie recipe online, with dozens of downloads purchased every week. She puts this down to a real interest in experimenting in the home kitchen, and a response to the cost-of-living crisis. “My cookies are New York style. If you were to buy them out and about, each one would generally set you back £4 to £5 in a shop. You can make a batch of 12 at home for around £12.” Biscuit baking kits or ‘bake at home’ doughs are “seriously worth investing in”, Reshmi says. BAKING AT HOME Reshmi Bennett of Anges de Sucre says pistachio is the flavour that’s popping in 2024, but adds a trend that shouldn’t be ignored is home baking – especially when it comes to cookies.