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Jones Village Bakery creates jobs in Australia trade deal
The initial agreement is to supply three types of American-style pancakes – buttermilk, blueberry and lemon flavours – with the possibility to roll put new products.
To support the new deal, Village Bakery has now moved to seven-days-a-week productions and has created 20 new jobs. This followed the installation of a £2m pancake production line last year which also created 20 jobs.
According to commercial controller Glen Marriott, Village Bakery’s latest round of export success was the result of a Google search for people who make pancakes by the new distributor.
Company values
“They liked our values and how we promote from within, the quality of the products and the facilities and that prompted a phone call from their managing director and it went from there,” he explained.
“They have national reach so these products will be going across the whole of the country, from Western Australia right across the Eastern seaboard.”
Village Bakery’s has worked with local multi-temperature warehousing and logistics firm Norish to freeze and move its pancakes to the other side of the world.
Commercial director Lesley Arnot added: “It’s fantastic to be selling products to the other side of the world because this is a totally new market for us. Working in partnership with them, I think it’s the start of something really great for us beyond just pancakes.
Future plans
“We’re already talking to them about gluten free products and a whole range of other things. They’re particularly excited about pikelets which is like a thin crumpet and it’s brilliant that a quintessentially Welsh product could be finding a home in Australia.”
With growing markets in France and Germany, exports are an essential ingredient in the company’s growing success, with overseas sales already topping £5m and forecast to double over the next 12 months.
“What’s particularly gratifying is the confirmation that quality sells wherever you are in the world and that includes the southern hemisphere,” concluded operations director Simon Thorpe.
“If we can make products that we’re really proud of, I think that shines through and then when we bring customers to site, they can see the dedication and the passion of all the Village People involved in making all our great products.
