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ARCHIVED NEWS |
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Jane Asher welcomes a new judge onto the judging panel for the Home Baker of the Year
Andrew Nutter, celebrity chef and owner of Nutters (Manchester Restaurant of the Year) joins Home Baker judging panel for the Final October 9th. Andrew Nutter is one of the most exciting and innovative of the new breed of celebrity chefs to hit the culinary circuit. After three years intensive and invaluable training at the Savoy, Andrew moved to France for two years working in Michelin starred restaurants all over France. The next move was back to London to the Greenhouse Restaurant under the watchful eye of Gary Rhodes. At the tender age of 21 with the backing of his family `Nutters` was launched and within a few months was packed every night. Eventually larger premises were needed and Nutters is now housed in the lavish setting of an 18th century manor house, set in 6 ½ acres of groomed parkland with spectacular views across Ashworth moors, Greater Manchester and beyond. All this makes perfect settings for the extravagance of Andrew Nutters cuisine. Nutters recently celebrated it’s Diamond Anniversary with a ‘Star Studded Event!' Awards soon followed and Andrew clinched The Lancashire Chef Of The Year and then the Young Mancunian Business Man of the Year. Andrew hit the big time when he turned up at the awards dinner with NUTTER shaved into the back of his head. T.V companies took interest and before he knew it he was on Ready Steady Cook! Afternoon Live, Granada cult strand “THE FLYING CHEF” and his own radical channel 5 series “UTTER NUTTER”. He works alongside all the main supermarkets, endorsing and promoting products and he has filmed two videos and recipe leaflet promoting local and regional produce. He is a great believer in giving back to the local community and in recent years has raised £20,000 for the N.S.P.C.C and CHRISTIES hospital Manchester. Andrew is frequently asked to judge competitions, make guest appearances and works as a presenter. He demonstrates all over the country and leading food festivals and media events. Andrew was a regular guest on BBC Great Food Live! ITV’s Saturday Cooks & Weekday Cooks. He appears regularly at the Gourmet Food Festivals in South Africa – in Durban, Capetown and Johanesburg. Corporate demonstrations and presentations are one of his specialties. His current book is UTTER NUTTER and his popular cookery master class mornings operate on the first Thursday of each month.
Home Baker of the Year Final is Approaching
Hello bakers The Jane Asher Home Baker of the Year Final is approaching!! It’s Victoria Foods’ 5th year running HBOY and we launched this year's event in April to mark the start of the campaign to find Britain’s best baker – shortlisting has now closed and we now have our 5 Finalists, chosen by Jane herself. The Grand Final Live bake-off is being held for the first time in Manchester (to mark our proud status as a local manufacturer) at the rather plush Poggenpohl Kitchen Showroom, Deansgate, Manchester....the top prize is phenomenal - a £25,000 Poggenpohl Kitchen! There our 5 selected finalists will be making up their entered recipes – the entries this year have been unprecedented and we are looking forward to seeing who will be crowned the winner . Recipes can be anything from a twist on a classic, or something completely unusual - and presented to a panel of judges who decide the winner. After baking stops, judging commences and there will be a champagne reception where media, and various guests will be enjoying a glass of bubbly and a lovely buffet lunch. It is a truly enjoyable day and should be brilliant for boosting the profile of home baking.
Summer Baking - The Perfect Mix
The start of summer brings summer fetes, graduations, weddings, camping trips and picnics - and more pressure for home bakers everywhere! Help is at hand from baking expert, Jane Asher who, ahead of her Home Baker of the Year contest, shares some useful advice to help would-be bakers rise above the competition. Jane Asher explained: “If you’ve never baked before it can seem quite daunting, but as long as you weigh the ingredients carefully and follow the recipe you really can’t go wrong. This all-in-one easy tray bake recipe is a great way to start and is perfect for summer teas and picnics – the fresh, zingy lemon keeps it from being over sweet, and it’s easy to transport if you leave it in the baking tray.”
LEMON TRAYBAKE225g spreadable butter Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan assisted, 350°F, gas mark 4). Prepare a 12”x9” baking tray. Simply put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat well together. Turn the mix into the baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes until risen and springy to the fingers. Let the cake cool in the tray. Spread with lemony butter icing, mark into 16 slices and decorate each one with a sugar ‘lemon slice’ or a few raspberries. LEMON BUTTER ICING
Put the butter and sieved icing sugar into a mixing bowl and beat together (I do it in my mixer, with the lid on, which stops the icing sugar flying about, but you can do it with a fork or with a handheld electric mixer if you take it slowly). Stir in the lemon rind, then add the juice little by little, beating all the time until the mixture gets really light and fluffy.
Taken from Jane’s recent book, Beautiful Baking, Simon and Schuster £10.99
COMPETITIONBakers who have their sights set higher than the school fete can prove they have what it takes by entering Jane’s Home Baker of the Year competition and submitting their cake recipe through the website: www.homebake.co.uk by 10th August 2008. Jane will select a shortlist of five who will be entered into the final Poggenpohl Kitchen Showrooms in Manchester on 9th October 2008. Recipes can be brand-new ideas or variations of old classics: last year’s winner, Linda Edmonds from Brentwood, Essex, was a success with her Tipsy Apple and Blackberry Cupcakes, fighting off some very tough competition from among a high standard of entries. This year’s winner will receive a fantastic £25,000 Poggenpohl Kitchen, compete with appliances. The second prize is a weekend cookery course for two at Lucy Cooks in the Lake District plus an overnight stay at the '4 Star' Lakeside Hotel, while three runners-up will each receive a luxury hamper of goodies from the Jane Asher Home Baking range. For further details on how to enter visit www.homebake.co.uk
Food Northwest Awards 2008. Shortlisted for Manson Insurance Award for Innovation
Victoria Foods recently celebrated 25 years in business at its Leigh base where it manufactures baking, dessert and beverage mixes. A family company, committed to making high quality products using the best ingredients, Victoria Foods has focused a great deal of effort during the last year, in expanding its brand portfolio to create baking and dessert mixes for people of all ages and experience - from the health conscious to those who are looking for an indulgent treat to share with their friends and family. In 2007, the company developed and launched a range of dessert and baking mixes with Weight Watchers. The range was developed with low sugar and with a low saturated fat, within strict POINTS® controlled development guidelines, using all natural ingredients. This is an impressive technical feat considering cakes are generally high in saturated fat and sugar. The company sees this as creating the first branded ‘diet’ offering on the home baking and dessert fixtures. The Weight Watchers dessert mixes have also been produced in a unique shelf-space saving ‘stick pack’ format. Work during 2007 has also included a partnership with Nestle Creations under the Jane Asher Creations banner, to create a dual branded range of baking mixes combining iconic Nestle confectionery brands with the Jane Asher name. Dan Ross, Managing Director of Victoria Foods said: “We are committed to investing in new systems and technology to ensure that our business grows into the 21st century. We strive to stay one step ahead of the competition and continue to evolve our product portfolio to respond to what consumers want.”
Record ‘Home Baker of the Year’ entries expected as home baking’s popularity surges
According to research carried out by Mintel*, the home baking industry is set to be worth over £550 million by 2011, a huge leap from the £429 million it was worth in 2006. With the nation embracing home baking so enthusiastically, actress and queen of home baking, Jane Asher, is expecting record entries for her Home Baker of the Year award 2008, which launched in Manchester today (10th April 2008).
The annual competition, which is open to anyone aged 16 and over throughout the UK, aims to remind people that baking is great fun for people of all ages. To stand a chance of being crowned Home Baker of the Year, all you have to do is create an interesting, tasty cake recipe, and submit your entry via the website, www.homebake.co.uk. Jane Asher will then personally choose five people to be in the final, which will be held in October in Manchester. Recipes can be brand new ideas or variations of old classics. Jane says: “Home Baker of the Year is a fantastic event. The UK enjoys a strong baking culture, and hopefully, by reminding people just how much fun baking can be, the competition will go towards helping this tradition to keep going for generations to come. The competition has been a great success ever since we launched it in 2004, and this year we hope to attract even more than the 500 entries we received last year. The winner will receive a £25,000 Poggenpohl Kitchen, compete with appliances and the second prize is a weekend cookery course for two at Lucy Cooks in the Lake District plus an overnight stay at the 4* Lakeside Hotel. Three runners-up will receive a luxury hamper of goodies from the Jane Asher Home Baking range. All entries must be in by 10th August 2008. For further details on how to enter please visit www.homebake.co.uk.
Jane Asher launches Home Baker of the Year award 2008
COULD YOU BE THE NEXT HOME BAKER OF THE YEAR? Actress and queen of home baking, Jane Asher, has announced the dates for the Home Baker of the Year award 2008, which is open to adults of all ages all over the UK.
The annual competition, which is now entering its 5th year, aims to remind people that baking is an enjoyable activity for people of all ages - it can be fun for families, professionals, mothers and even men! All you have to do to be crowned Home Baker of the Year is design a cake or recipe and submit it through the website which is www.homebake.co.uk. Jane Asher will then choose 5 finalists to be entered into the final which will be held on 9th October at Poggenpohl Kitchen Showrooms in Manchester. Recipes can be brand new ideas or variations of old classics; last year’s winner, Linda Edmonds from Brentwood, Essex was a success with her Tipsy Apple and Blackberry Cupcakes, fighting off some very tough competition amongst a high standard of entries. Jane Asher commented, “The award has been a resounding success since it launch in 2004 and we had a record number of entries last year! The UK has such a strong baking culture and I am aiming to help this continue for generations to come. Baking isn’t just something that should be done for special occasions, its fun for all the family – and it can be easy too. “I really enjoy being involved with the competition; baking is a fun activity for all the family, and gives a great reward at the end! I hope Home Baker of the Year encourages people to get back into the kitchen, and I look forward to seeing the entries pour in for another exciting Final.”
and the winner is... Linda Edmonds for her Tipsy Apple and Blackberry Cupcakes
The competition was a big success. Jane Asher said " What a wonderful day it was at this year’s Home Baker of the Year final! The standard was fantastic, and the judges and I truly had an almost impossible task in picking the winner. Good Housekeeping yet again looked after us beautifully, and, thanks to the generosity of Dan Ross, the lovely MD of Victoria Foods, the company that makes my mixes for me, we were all kept well-supplied with champagne and delicious food throughout the day. Many congratulations to all of the finalists, and especially to Linda, of course, and I look forward to reading more brilliant recipes when we start HBOY 2008. Meanwhile, keep up the baking and have a wonderful year"!
Please visit the homebake website for full details.
Dan Ross, Managing Director of Victoria Foods, says: “2007 has been an exciting year for Victoria Foods; we have seen our brand portfolio expand rapidly to boast a wide range of fantastic licensed products that will excite and inspire you, the consumer. We are thrilled to be working with Weight Watchers and Nestle and look forward to continually developing and evolving our ranges.” Tasty, innovative and most importantly, clean recipe, these are all must-try products from the country’s largest manufacturer in home baking.
Jane Asher Christmas The Mince Pie Kit will be in supermarkets in time for Christmas. Jane says: ‘I’m very proud of this new addition to my range: it’s only too easy to get overwhelmed by all the things to do at this time of year, and I’ve created this simple, classic mince pie kit to make it all just a little more relaxed! They’re wonderful served either warm or cold, and go down very nicely with a cup of tea or glass of mulled wine. I’m also going to keep a few packets in my store cupboard so I’ll be able to serve some perfect mince pies very quickly to any last minute guests. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I do.’
Weight Watchers Weight Watchers, the UK’s number one weight loss and weight management organisation, is leading the way when it comes to offering everyone the perfect way to enjoy a cool summer picnic, a sizzling hot BBQ or a perfect sunny day on the beach. As the UK’s leading grocery brand, the Weight Watchers food range offers Weight Watchers members and consumers looking for healthier options the opportunity to eat tasty food for the lowest POINTS values possible with no compromise on taste. From Weight Watchers creamy chocolate flavour dessert whips and cool ice lollies and exciting fruit desserts, the new range is made with the best high quality ingredients. Not only that they all really taste good and look good! On top of this they fit into the Weight Watchers flexible eating plans and are perfect for those following a calorie controlled diet or who want to choose a healthier option.
Fern Milne / Chief Executive / a spokesperson for Weight Watchers said: ‘Our new range of Weight Watchers food offers the perfect solution to a fun, successful summer. Our delicious new range offers the consumer something a bit special without any guilt attached. It is the perfect accompaniment to a BBQ, a picnic or a day at the beach. All of the new delights also fit into the Weight Watchers flexible eating plans – perfect for the summer and for people who want to choose a healthier option. We know everyone will enjoy them throughout the summer months and beyond, indeed at any time of year!’ New additions to the children’s sector include some of the biggest and most iconic brands on television today and are bound to be big hits with kids:
Rupert Bear
Postman Pat 2d Dec Kit Another relatively new addition to the shelves from Victoria Foods is the complete baking “kit”: Postman Pat Strawberry Cupcake Kit with 2d Decorations to the shelves. The Kit contains 2d sugar decorations which are displayed to consumers through unique display windows on the front of pack.
Simpsons The Simpsons Movie has been the biggest character/brand tie-in this year, with the film producing a Homer Pizza Kit is a great tasty pizza base mix with a tangy tomato and herb sauce included. You can create your own pizza, using some of Homer’s favourite ingredients, for fresh oven baked results. Great for all the family, this is made from a clean label recipe, using no artificial colours or flavours, and no hydrogenated fats. Suitable for vegetarians, this is a healthy and delicious treat. Lisa Sparkly Raspberry Mini Muffins are an exciting new addition to the sweet mixes category. Cute and fun to bake and decorate, their bright eye catching design will appeal to girls everywhere; the mini muffins are a delicious treat, with sparkly raspberry flavoured topping, covered in sprinkles and white chocolate stars. Pink printed muffin cases are provided too. Another clean label recipe means that there are no hydrogenated fats, and no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners.
Postman Pat Anniversary Giveaway!
Promotional packs now in-store! 60,000 special Postman Pat Fairy Cake mixes have been produced to celebrate Postman Pat’s 25th birthday, and everyone’s a winner! All 60,000 participants receive a Super Postman Pat Mr Lucky Bag, courtesy of Mr Lucky Bags Ltd. Follow instructions, printed on the inside of promotional packs, to receive your free Super Postman Pat Mr Lucky Bag. (Please ensure you send in a stamped addressed envelope, with the postage of 44p) There are 50 Golden Tickets distributed randomly throughout packs. If you find one of them, follow the instructions printed inside promotional packs. Golden Ticket Winners will win a Family Passport ticket to Longleat, a Born to Play Postman Pat Beanie Toy, and a Super Postman Pat Mr Lucky Bag. Please note that brown cup cases are not Golden Tickets. Golden Tickets are printed gold cards, with the words “Golden Ticket Winner” across the front, and prize details on the back. Sponsor Details:
For information on stockists, please call: 01706 356 500
Manufacturers in the North West Victoria Foods Ltd provided an array of products to The Manufacturing Institue, along with other manufacturers from the North West, to showcase at a variety of venues including the Labour Party Conference. MP’s were amazed at the quantity and quality of products manufactured in the region. The display was provided to indicate the quantity of items produced in the North West, and the success of companies from the area.
Victoria Foods Ltd would like to thank The Manufacturing Institute for allowing us to participate in showcasing our products, and for providing the pictures of their mock shop. |
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The Launch of Three New Victoria Foods Branded Trailers Victoria Foods Ltd is proud to announce the arrival of three new branded trailers. The trailers have the Victoria Foods’ Jane Asher Cake Mix logo on the sides, and Victoria Foods’ Quench Lemon Tea logo on the back. The new trailers are a welcome addition to increasing brand awareness nationwide.
The trailers were officially presented by Keith Forster, Managing Director of Boughey Distribution Ltd, to Dan Ross, Managing Director of Victoria Foods Ltd. Keith greeted Dan at the Boughey site in Nantwich, along with his team of Victoria Foods employees, including Brian Tickle, Supply Chain Manager, and Jo Buckley, Marketing Manager.
Boughey and Victoria Foods have been working closely together in recent years to provide our customers with our great products, with a reliable logistic solution provided by Boughey. You can read more about the delivery at the Boughey website on the following link: |
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Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2006 At this year’s Manchester Food and Drink Festival, Victoria Foods Ltd were invited to The Printworks, Manchester, for a charity cake sale. Victoria Foods showcased new product, Jane Asher’s Chunky Choc Chunk Fridge Cake Mix, along with old favourites, Jane Asher Chocolate Fudge Cake and Triple Choc Muffin Mixes, as well as Quench Instant Lemon Tea, which is fast growing in it’s popularity.
As the only business at the charity cake sale, Victoria Foods’ Development Technologist, Katherine Hillier, attended to judge the “Best Cake of the Day”, which was a small competition run between the stall holders at the event. The winner won a small hamper which contained a Jane Asher ‘Cakes For Fun’ Book, a wooden spoon, signed by Jane Asher, and a selection of Jane Asher cake mixes, and a bag of Quench. We also held a free competition for those who visited our stand. Another hamper, containing a Jane Asher book, signed spoon, cake mixes and Quench, was the prize for participating in the draw. Diane Fitton, of Whitefield in Manchester, won the draw. She later said “Thank you for the Hamper and the Tea… The lemon tea is so very nice hot or cold and the whole family loves it!” As supporters of The National Autistic Society, we were proud to donate half the proceeds taken from the day to the Society, which Jane Asher is President of. |
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| Archived Stories: Home Baker of the Year 2006 Winner Victoria Foods tops the North West 2005
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Ex-Army Chef, Graham Coe from Chippenham, beat four other finalists from across the UK to be crowned the Home Baking winner at a ‘bake off’ at the Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI). Graham's Plum and Oatmeal Loaf received great praise from the judges which included Jane Asher and Prue Leith. ‘Delicious’, ‘simple yet delightful’, ‘tantalising on the taste buds’, ‘a great mix of flavours’ were just some of the comments he received from the judges and guests who packed out the GHI kitchens.
Graham beat stiff competition from finalists:
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'Cakes for Fun' Jane Asher Book Promotion Note: This offer finished on 30th August 2006. What’s the offer? What is it? Why would you want it? How to claim it? When does it end? |
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| Mother’s Day Competition | |
To launch the 2006 Home Baker of the Year Awards and to celebrate mother’s Day 2006, we at Victoria Foods thought how fitting it was to celebrate the best bakers we know –mums! Readers of various newspapers across the nation joined in by completing a small form saying why their mother’s deserved to win a Mother’s Day cake designed by Jane Asher herself, in addition to her book. One winner from each of the five regions received their prizes, with five runner-ups from each area also receiving a hamper each. We would like to congratulate the winners: Nicola Ryall Bolton Evening News Well done to all 25 runner-ups for the competition. We hope you enjoyed the hampers! Also, we would like to wish Mrs Phyllis Britton a very Happy Birthday. She will be 96 on Friday 8th April. She was nominated for the competition by Frank, her son. He said in an email to Jane Asher, “She was absolutely thrilled to receive the cake. Thank you so very much!”
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Leigh-based Victoria Foods has won a top award as the North West Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) Manufacturer of the Year. The company, which makes baking, desert and beverage mixes, won the prestigious title at The Manufacturing Institute’s Accelerating The Transformation Awards 2005, held in Manchester. The award, sponsored by The DTI Manufacturing Advisory Service, recognised the company’s all-round manufacturing achievement, particularly its “excellence in people development”, which has been paying great dividends across its operation. Mark Bareham, factory manager at Victoria Foods commented: “We are delighted to have won this major award, which is a tribute to all our employees. Our efforts have paid off in increased productivity and sales, while our labour turnover has dropped to almost zero.” The awards were judged by a panel of national and international experts from government, industry and academia. Commenting on Victoria Food’s success, they said: “Victoria Foods has been zealous in identifying opportunities to develop its people to drive through sustainable improvements. It is a great example of what small to medium sized enterprises should be doing.“ The award was presented at the Manufacturers’ Annual Dinner, hosted by Manchester’s Manufacturing Institute and attended by representatives from leading North West businesses. As well as recognising the SME Manufacturer of the Year, there was also the Pannone & Partners Award for Overall North West Manufacturer of the Year, which was won by Hitachi Automotive Systems Europe Ltd, of Bolton. The awards scheme was open to companies of all sizes and different industry sectors from across the North West. In her welcoming introduction to the awards ceremony, The Manufacturing Institute’s chief executive Julie Madigan said it was a real celebration of excellence and outstanding achievement. “These companies, along with many others in the region, are meeting global challenges head on – not only surviving but in many ways taking on the world’s best and winning,” she commented. |
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He has had a remarkable career, at thirteen he was runner up in the national junior cook of the year award then a finalist in the Daily Mail Cook of the Year which led to him being offered a job by Anton Edelmann at London’s Savoy Hotel as soon as he left school.
These delicious, and easy to bake, pies are perfect for family gatherings around Christmas or for entertaining friends at any time. Each of Jane’s famous Home Baking range uses only the highest quality ingredients and is free from hydrogenated fats, artificial colours, flavours and preservatives, so you know you’ll be giving them only the best.
Upcoming children’s products for 2007/8 include Rupert Bear, which has seen a big revival, featuring heavily on Channel Five’s Milkshake! and enjoying a resurgence of popularity with a new generation of youngsters. Victoria Foods have produced a Rupert Bear vanilla cupcake, which will join a growing roster of Rupert Bear licensed products across many categories, for an impressive brand set to be a big hit with kids. It is a clean label product made from natural ingredients, which is sure to be a big hit with mums. 
multimillion dollar worldwide smash hit and adding a massive boost to the profile of this already phenomenally successful brand. Victoria Foods have brought innovation to the home baking category with their brand new The Simpsons baking mixes. Decorative, creative and unique, these are exciting new products for the market and unlike any currently on the fixture. 
