Eat Cake!

31 July 2013, 08:49 am
Speciality Bites by Paul Hargreaves

Last week I had the privilege of going to the inaugural Cake Awards – a new award for the food sector

How pleasant it was to be at an awards ceremony during the day rather than the evening, and to be having afternoon tea at the Park Lane Hotel rather than a boozy dinner! I loved the tone of the event, which was more about celebrating cake than a stuffy awards ceremony – and we certainly had plenty of opportunity to eat it during the afternoon.  Look out for the entry deadlines for next year – and get your entries in if you are a baker of the finest cakes in the UK.

Of course in this unusually hot weather for the UK, cake sales are down, as are flour, biscuits and other carbo-high foods – people just eat less of that kind of product during hot weather.  As for drinks sales, well if I just tell you that we were 40% up year-on-year last week largely due to drinks – remember last year – you just had to turn your head upwards to the heaven to have a good free drink of rain most days.  As I have said several times before, we, in the speciality food industry are more affected by weather than economic conditions.  Consumers simply get out more in fine weather, are in a better mood for “leisure shopping” – and outdoor eating is beneficial for us all!

Of course, if chocolate is melting in the back of the sales team’s cars, it must mean that Christmas is in full swing!  Buoyed by last year’s encouraging festive sales, everything is looking very good for this year, and there seems to be a lot of confidence in the air.  Many of our initial purchase orders are done, and producers in UK and beyond will be sweating away in their kitchens starting to make products for delivery into us late August onwards.  These two months – July & August - really are the calm before the storm, and possibly the most enjoyable of the year. Must nearly be time for a holiday!

I’ll talk to you again next week.

more from Speciality Bites

  • Generosity

    05 July 2021 Speciality Bites
    Generosity from leaders makes business better in all aspects, yet few businesses have discovered the benefits that accompany being generous of spirit.

  • We are now retailers too!

    21 June 2021 Speciality Bites
    So, the week has arrived at last when I become a retailer as well as a wholesaler. What a journey it has been.

  • We need leaders, not managers

    07 June 2021 Speciality Bites
    I’ve mentioned before that not many people can give me the name of someone when asked at interview who has inspired them most from their previous work life. This is because most people have only experienced management not leadership.