Background
Based in Ebbw Vale, Clam’s Cakes Ltd supply their handmade cakes, tray bakes, muffins and biscuits to cafes and coffee shops across the country. Originally founded in 1996, the family run business was named Wales’s best craft bakery in the Baking Industry Awards 2018 and they’re the winners of 18 Great Taste Awards for their range of small batch baked-to-order cakes, which include sticky almond and vegan lemon, chia seed and pistachio.
As holders of SALSA certification, Clam’s has previously received support from ZERO2FIVE with their food safety management systems, including assistance with internal audits and retailer audits.
When Clam’s decided they wanted to develop a new children’s biscuit to fulfil demand from their customers, they contacted the New Product Development experts at ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre for support.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
ZERO2FIVE initially carried out a market review, providing an analysis of competitor foodservice and retail products, including their price, ingredients, marketing claims, and nutritional information. Furthermore, a summary of relevant trends, including changes in consumer diets, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, and changes in legislation, were also provided.
ZERO2FIVE’s New Product Development team then commenced recipe development, taking into consideration target costs, ingredient requirements and compatibility with the company’s existing equipment. Recipe development took place over a number of stages and the company were initially presented with both gingerbread and shortbread product concepts. With a preferred biscuit decided upon, further refinements took place to optimise the recipe’s ginger content, the thickness of the biscuit and the most effective icing variety and design.
Benefits of the support
Following recipe development and the completion of factory trials, Clam’s now have a final gingerbread bear biscuit which is ready for launch. The external New Product Development support from ZERO2FIVE enabled the company to dedicate time and expertise to developing a new product which they otherwise wouldn’t have had.
Clam’s plan to officially launch their new biscuit at Taste Wales in October 2023, but it will be available imminently from cafes and hospitality outlets across South Wales.
Based on the success of the project, Clam’s has already been in discussion with ZERO2FIVE about future New Product Development projects and hopes to start work on them soon.
Lewis Phillips, Sales Manager, Clam’s Cakes Ltd, said: “ZERO2FIVE provided us with a professional service from start to finish. They researched recipes, conducted excellent market research and professionally presented their findings. Once we had decided to go with our chosen style and flavour of biscuit, they helped develop a recipe and signed off our ingredient label. I would recommend ZERO2FIVE to other businesses who are looking at NPD but don’t have the manpower or time. We look forward to working with them on more projects in the future.”
