Borthwick told our reporter Rod Addy that a good milling wheat harvest in the UK was tempered by poor grain yields and quality in Germany, France and Spain. Across the Atlantic, North American harvests had been frustrated by flooding.
Here, Borthwick explains his company's purchasing policy and how it plans to manage the troubled harvest of 2011.
Roberts is part of Frank Roberts and Sons Group which grew out of a corner bakery store in Cheshire founded in 1887. Today, the firm is owned and operated by the fourth generation of the Roberts family.
The firm's sliced bread, rolls and bakery products are available across Cheshire, Staffordshire, North Wales and the Midlands, both in supermarkets and local convenience stores.
For, for more on Roberts Bakery, don't miss the Me and My Factory feature in our sister magazine Food Manufacture's October issue.