RECORD SALES FOR BORDER HOMEBAKE (April 2009)

A small bakery in west Northumberland which specialises in traditional tray bakes has just enjoyed the best trading year in its 18-year history and expects to do even better in 2009, according to its owner and farmer’s wife, 37-year-old Justine Carruthers.

That’s the good news from Justine who runs Border Homebake at Hadrian Enterprise Park, Haltwhistle. The business, which she started originally in an old, redundant dairy building on a local farm, took off last year when she participated for the first time in a speciality food show in North Yorkshire.

Afterwards, turnover shot up and she landed an order from 12 Morrisons’ North East supermarkets.

“We picked up a fantastic amount of new orders at Harrogate where we exhibited under the banner of North East England Food and Drink Group, so much so we have decided to take part in this year’s show,” said Justine. The Harrogate Speciality Food Show 2009 takes place at the Yorkshire Event Centre on June 14 and 15.

“Despite all the problems of the recession there is still a terrific demand for our home baked products and we are working flat out to keep up with the demand,” she added.

Justine is on maternity leave at present, having given birth to Jacob Jackson, her second child, quite recently. She also has a daughter, India, who will be two in June. Justine and her husband Steven, live at Towcett Farm, Newby, two miles from Shap in Cumbria.

She will be shortly commuting regularly again to Haltwhistle, but in the meantime the day-to-day running of the business is in the hands of Jean Craney from nearby Twice Brewed. “Jean and the staff are brilliant,” said Justine. Border Homebake currently employs five full-time and four part-time staff.

Justine has always had a passion for home baking. She uses traditional methods and recipes handed down to her by her grandmother and an old family friend.

Today, she markets her products under the Tray Bakes brand and sells them, individually wrapped, in retail packs or in larger trays for catering outlets. She produces a core range of 12 tray bake lines. The best seller is honeycomb crunch, a sweet meal honeycombed biscuit with a drizzle of white chocolate-flavoured coating. Other popular varieties are luxury caramel shortcake and caramel crispie.

The business delivers to customers in the North East, Cumbria, including the Lake District, Yorkshire, as far south as London and to Aberdeen in the North. Justine says the company’s success is based on quality products, customer care and food safety.

The Border Homebake team have just completed their training for the Salsa (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) scheme and, if successfully audited, will find even greater opportunities for regional and national sales.