To mark International Children’s Day last month, 35 children aged between four and 17 – all kids of the Worcestershire factory staff – were invited to see where their parents worked and how cakes are made.
As well as a supervised mini factory tour of the Evesham site, which included looking into a large vat of chocolate, the young visitors got a chance to design aprons and decorate (and, importantly take home) their own cakes using Dawn frostings.
“Despite being a global bakery company, Dawn is still family owned. The early years of our own CEO Carrie Barber were spent with her dad in the bakery, so bringing team members into the factory to see what mum and dad do all day and how cakes are made is very important to us,” said Jacqui Passmore, marketing manager UK and Ireland at Dawn.
It’s well-known that the UK food and drink industry has a skills gap issue, with labour shortages resulting in manufacturers struggling to recruit. In bakery specifically, it was only recently highlighted by pastry, dough and pancake manufacturer, BakeAway, that despite more than half of Brits expressing a passion for bakery, over two thirds of UK adults wouldn’t consider a career in it.
“As a company we’re committed to finding the next generation of bakers too whether through our student ambassador programme at University College Birmingham, training days with City of Wolverhampton College which have taken place recently, and now with the youngest generation at our Evesham plant Children’s Day.”
Dawn Foods employs around 180 staff in the Worcestershire town of Evesham, many from the same family. The hope is that this will help inspire a love of bakery in the next generation. The Children’s Day is part of the company’s on-going CSR commitment which focuses on people, products and customers.
In other bakery news, Scottish food manufacturer Bells Food Group has begun work on a £250k investment which will significantly boost its pie-making capabilities, read more here.
