News and Trends

Tesco has become one of the first major retailers to unwrap its Christmas range for 2022, which includes a host of sweet and savoury new bakery products. There are new additions to the retailer’s party food range, free-from line-up and dessert offering. Novelty shapes make frequent appearances in desserts, with wreaths and crackers among those on display. When it comes to flavours, the retailer has kept to the classics with chocolate, caramel and coffee featuring heavily while the party food line-up takes inspiration from international cuisine. Here are some of the highlights of Tesco’s Christmas range:   Source: Tesco Blonde Chocolate Christmas Present Torte Bar Tapping into the flavour of the moment – blonde chocolate – this dessert is made by sandwiching a baked caramel and white chocolate ganache cheesecake between chocolate sponge. The whole thing is topped with chocolate ganache before being finished with bronze dusted shortcake balls and festive chocolate present decorations...

Coastal hotels in the UK have seen a boost in summer bookings driven by the hot weather and chaos at the airports. Paul FitzGerald, portfolio managing director of the Coast and Country Hotel Collection, which has 36 properties across the country, said many people were taking staycations "at the last minute" as flights were cancelled. He said: "Our guests look at the weather and think ‘let's book a night or two away', which has helped generate a huge amount of last-minute trade over the last week or so.

  The lockdown baking craze is over. Can brands revive flagging sales with new healthy, affordable and convenient propositions? Across the UK, cake tins are gathering dust, electric whisks are unplugged and mixing bowls are languishing in kitchen cupboards. In short, the home baking boom is over. Category value has fallen 15% to £747.1m as Brits have returned to the outside world [Kantar 52 w/e 12 June 2022]. “Over the last two years, we have seen the category growing as [shoppers] had more time to bake given the lockdown restrictions,” says Kantar analyst Suela Uklala. “However, as social restrictions have been lifted, people have returned to their usual busy lives, engaging less with home baking.” Simply put, the category’s seen “fewer shoppers, making fewer trips and buying less volume”. Nevertheless, suppliers are largely phlegmatic about the sales slump. “As many of us return to some form of our pre-Covid lifestyles, it’s inevitable that the lockdown baking boom is experiencin...

August can be one of the quietest months for new restaurants (the calm before the storm in September) - but there are still some strong new openings to look forward to.   Chelsea  - 275 Old Brompton Road, London SW5 9JA Mirya comes from one of Ukraine's top chefs, Yurii Kovryzhenko, who has had to remain in London due to the war with Russia. He's now opening his own Ukrainian restaurant here, with the plan to have it staffed by Ukrainian refugees. Expect classic Ukrainian dishes like borsch and Chicken Kyiv, as well as his own dishes like zucchini pancakes with stracciatella. More about Mriya   Marylebone  - 105 Marylebone High St, London W1U 4RS This is the first new Granger & Co from Bill Granger in some time, and he's taking over a classic space in Marylebone which once housed Maison Sagne. Expect all-day dining with a menu that features global cuisine with some Australian touches. The ricotta hotcakes with banana, a signatur...

rpbi-news.co.uk, 20 July 2022 Independent bakery chain Cornish Bakery has immediately proven itself as a vital part of the local community with the recent opening of its Stamford bakery. The company was recognised as a top 10 fast-growth listing in British Baker’s Bakery Market Report, and the new Stamford location fits perfectly with the ongoing expansion plan.  The Cornish Bakery’s brand’s purpose is to nourish people.  Each bakery team is empowered to deliver this on this promise and Stamford’s manager, Joshua Sharp, has immediately taken the opportunity to collaborate with nearby charities. The first of those is Second Helpings, a project run in partnership with Stamford Methodist Church.  Based in the heart of the town, the charity’s volunteers work with local suppliers and supermarkets to redistribute surplus food nearing its best before date to the community.  The organisation is passionate about reducing food waste and working with the community to reduc...

rpbi-news.co.uk, 25 July 2022 Acting for an independent landlord DCL have secured Ole & Steen at a corner flagship on Northcote Road, Clapham in South London. The site provides a stunning retail space with the building allowing a full branding artwork and extensive outside seating. This stunning location is a fitting location for the 20th UK site for the Danish bakery brand. Rob Meadows, who introduced Ole & Steen to their first UK store on Haymarket, acted on the deal. As well as advising on the leasing there was a complex history with the building previously home to Byron. The comprehensive advice included navigating through the Byron CVA with the landlord, development advice and also advising on a highly successful temporary lease to Tampopo the pan Asian restaurant. This provided a successful platform to test the “local & neighbourhood” market, but also rates mitigation and income for the landlord while their development scheme was worked up and planning secured.

rpbi-news.co.uk, 22 July 2022 Blackburn's new town centre Best Western hotel will open next month. The Best Western outlet follows the opening of the Premier Inn in the Cathedral Quarter and Hampton by Hilton Blackburn on Frontier Park near the M65’s Junction Six. The town was without a front-line hotel for decades after the closure of The County Hotel, formerly the The Saxon Inn in Preston New Road in 2001. A Best Western spokesperson said: “It is indeed opening very soon. The hotel launches next month.” Details of the hospitality venture were given in a 2019 planning application which reveals it will have 16-rooms and a restaurant, It anticipated that the new hotel would create 30 full-time equivalent jobs. Close to the the town’s train and bus stations the the ground-floor restaurant will be open to guests and the public. ________________________________ 2019 Plans to bring a former town centre pub back to life as a Best Western hotel and steakhouse restaurant have been passed. ...

rpbi-news.co.uk, 22 July 2022 Virgin Hotels, the luxury lifestyle hotel brand by Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, will open on 1st of December.  Situated on the banks of River Clyde, the hotel will feature 240 Chambers spanning across 15 floors, and hosts four dining and drinking options including Commons Club, Virgin Hotels' flagship restaurant and bar that acts as a modern-day social club; Highyard, for entertaining, co-working and dining; Funny Library Coffee Shop; and the elegant late-night bar, Rocks.  Virgin Hotels Glasgow will open in the centre of Glasgow, joining many noteworthy local restaurants, music venues and boutique hotels. The hotel was developed by Silk Property Group, which selected Twenty First Architects to work on the hotel. UK based design firm Four-By-Two was tapped to curate the hotel interiors in accordance with Virgin Hotels' localised approach to design.  "We're thrilled to share our second hotel in the UK in a completely different ...

FOOD & DRINK 19 July, 2022 | by Angela Beevers Garden centre chain Dobbies has signed a new partnership with Waitrose to enable it to provide customers with access to the supermarket’s food, grocery products and everyday essentials in over 50 Dobbies stores across the UK. Dobbies launched its new-style foodhall in July 2020 and this latest move will see Waitrose replace the current partnership with Sainsbury’s. Due to launch in Edinburgh this month, the partnership will enable Waitrose to have a presence in 20 new towns and cities. Dobbies’ new flagship stores at Tewkesbury and Reading will also benefit from the partnership. James Bailey, executive director for Waitrose, said: “With Dobbies we will be working with a partner that shares our values when it comes to quality and service, and this underlines our ambitions to bring Waitrose food and drink to even more people throughout the UK. It will take us into locations that are entirely new for us and build our presence in other...

London's infamous Harrods department store is celebrating some new openings this month including the UK's first patisserie by renowned Parisian chef Angelo Musa. Also launching this month is an eye catching pink cafe by Jimmy Choo, aptly positioned in the shoe section of the store. Angelo Musa at Harrods is sure to be a hit given how popular he has been in the French capital of late, at the high end Hotel Plaza Athénée where he serves up a range of exquisite pastries, cakes and savoury delights. His prowess speaks for itself as a winner of both 'Best Pastry Craftsman of France' and 'World Pastry Champion' and now Harrods have managed to secure his talents in London, bringing two exclusive cakes just for the UK - a strawberry confection and a grapefruit millefeuille. His signature '100% Vanilla' cake will also be on sale at Harrods. Find out more on Harrod's website  here .

Délifrance's vegan croissant have the same texture, taste and mouthfeel as their buttery counterparts. Pic: Délifrance According to experts, the UK is experiencing a ‘second wave’ of allergic disease, with around 1-2% of adults and 5-8% of children today suffering a food allergy. As a result, Natasha’s Law was introduced in 2021, requiring food outlets to provide clear allergen labelling on pre-packed foods. However, McPeake said allergies are getting worse, and more children are being diagnosed with multiple and severe allergies. Some of these are outside of the top 14, and range from kiwi fruit and tomatoes to peppers, pea protein and chickpeas. The love of bakery Délifrance’s report revealed three quarters of UK consumers with food allergies enjoy bread; 74% indulge in sweet treats like brownies or cakes; and 70% eat pastries like croissants and pain au chocolat. Another 66% like savoury treats such as cheese twists. This shows that there’s strong demand for baked goods from foo...

Premiumisation, posh pain and Insta-ready products are all shaping the category 1. Fresh bakery sales are up 8.5% in value post-pandemic  2. Other Wrapped Bakery can help attract younger shoppers 3. Morning goods are up 3% to £1.14bn in value sales 4. Bakery growth is driven by specialist breads 5. Sweet bakery is key – with cookies now up 6.3% YOY in volume sales 6. Cost-of-living pressures are playing out in-store 1. Fresh bakery sales are up 8.5% in value post-pandemic  Is it time to wave goodbye to the sales pain of bakery in the pandemic? Empty offices, home-baking shoppers and huge availability issues may have plagued the past two years. But with the High Street now fully open there’s evidence this lucrative category is back on the rise. “As we leave the pandemic behind, the fresh bakery category is seeing a strong bounce back with an 8.5% YOY increase, following a value decline of 6.2% the year before [ Nielsen ],” says Clodagh Sherrard, director of food and drink consu...