Western Gazette 17 May 2007
SAVOURY SNACK IS A SWEET DEAL FOR BAKERY
Honeybuns bakery recently celebrated the launch of a new wheat and gluten-free Mediterranean-inspired savoury snack.
The new product, BumbleO, is a savoury tray bake inspired by the Italian street food, farinata. The base is layered with Dorset onion marmalade, Denhay cheddar, Stilton from Devon, and roasted tomatoes.
The award-winning bakery, based in Holwell near Sherbourne was created by Emma Goss-Custard, who needed an extra income at university.
“I realised I was not cut out for the conventional career path, it may have been because my mum and dad were both self-employed. My tutor suggested I did some part-time work in a bakery to make some extra money, and I fell in love with it.
“I was brought up on these sort of cakes, and I have always baked. I made everything on my mum’s old Kenwood mixer with my mum and nan’s recipes, and sold it from the basket on the front of my bike, it kind of organically morphed.”
Mr Goss-Custard, the firms accounts and website co-ordinator, said savouries seemed to be the next natural step for the company, which has previously marketed only sweet goods.
“We are always trying to do new things, and savouries were an additional direction to go in,” he said.
“Emma and Charlotte are good at innovation, and the hard thing is trying to decide which idea to run with. We are always amending things due to feedback from our customers and contacts. We are always tweaking recipes in response.”
The company, which has grown by approximately 33% since 1998, is looking at new ideas for development. Mrs Goss-Custard said: “We have started exporting to Dubai, Hong Kong and France. Going international was a commercial decision, as we wanted to remain a niche product. We did not want to devalue the product, but we do need growth.”
Plans for the company include the creation of a children’s range and the development of an eco-bakery. Honeybuns opens the Bee Shack at Naish Farm, Stoney Lane, Holwell every first Saturday of the month. An annual Bee Hop –a one-day music festival is held at the farm in July.
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The Honeybuns bakery team is holistic in its approach to products and the working environment. Pictured at the launch of the new snack called BumbleO are, from front left, Lisa Strange, who works part-time in the bakery, Aaron Harcom, senior baker, and Charlotte Drake, production manager. From back left are Caroline Champion, baker, Matt Goss-Custard, accounts and website co-ordinator, Emma Goss-Custard, creator of Honeybuns, and Cath Preston, senior packer. |