Background
Welsh Hills Bakery, situated in the Welsh valleys, is a family business that has been baking bread, cakes, pies and tarts for over 60 years. In 2001 the bakery recognised the growing demand for wheat, dairy and gluten free baked goods and they invested in new machinery, practices and manufacturing methods that allowed the bakery to manufacture these foods. The site originally produced for their retail customers under own label gluten free products, and in 2008 they made the transition to becoming a fully dedicated gluten and dairy free site. In the same year it launched its own gluten and milk free brand ‘lovemore’. This own brand was redesigned in 2017 and is now recognised around the world as a leading free from brand.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
A 12 day technical support programme was set up between ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre and Welsh Hills Bakery under the HELIX project in January 2017. A technologist worked with the company to develop bespoke training materials for food hygiene and over the following months the technologist provided training to all 70 of their operatives.
Benefits of the support
Training the workforce allowed Welsh Hills Bakery to meet their customer requirements and to maintain their BRCGS accreditation in September of that year. Going forward the company plans to develop a bespoke course in collaboration with ZERO2FIVE to train all of their staff in allergen awareness, as well as to support internal audits of the technical system.
Technical Manager, Welsh Hills:
“The technical support programme provided through the HELIX project has been instrumental in developing the workforce with regards to food hygiene training and internal audits of the technical system to ensure we comply with customer requirements and the BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety. It has also been a great support in helping to change the culture of the production and packing operatives with regards to good manufacturing practices with the knowledge gained through the training programme.”
