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Our ‘Doughnation’ to Sue Ryder

This year, National Doughnut Week fell between 20th and 28th May and, because it’s a charitable event, we marked the occasion by donating a supply of doughnuts to the Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre in Fulwood, Lancashire.

A national charity, Sue Ryder supports people who are living with a terminal illness or a neurological condition, and those who have suffered bereavement. Its Neurological Care Centre in Lancashire opened in March 2020 and includes 40 en-suite rooms and an additional four individual living apartments on site.

When one of the organisation’s employees contacted us, suggesting that a doughnut donation might be an excellent way to mark National Doughnut Week, we readily agreed. We organised a delivery and, soon afterwards, we received an email thanking us and reporting that the doughnuts were being enjoyed by staff and residents alike.

If you’d like to support Sue Ryder, you can visit its online shop, make a donation, raise funds or volunteer. More options and ideas can be found on its website.

The official National Doughnut Week website can be found here, together with details of how it supports another charity, The Children’s Trust.

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National Bakery Awards 2023

On 4 May 2023, the hosts of the National Bakery Awards declared Simply Doughnuts one of its county winners, according us the title of ‘Best Bakery in Lancashire.’

The full list of county winners can be seen here.

As a county winner, we will now be put forward into the regional heats – the winners of which will be announced at the national awards event. The National Bakery Awards Grand Final will take place on 12 July at 30 Euston Square in London.

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ISM Expo – A Useful Visit

Towards the end of April, we visited ISM 2023, which is billed as the world’s largest trade fair for sweets and snacks. This year, it took place in Cologne, Germany, between 23rd and 25th April. It featured around 1200 exhibitors and we were among an estimated 25,000 food industry professionals who visited.

We made the decision to attend as part of our ongoing export growth strategy, which has already seen Simply Doughnuts’ products being stocked in stores and hypermarkets across the Gulf States. Here, though, there was a wider international audience and we used the opportunity to start a variety of useful new working relationships.

In particular, we are looking at new opportunities in European countries, so we were pleased to attract very positive feedback from a number of European agents and distributors. We also began discussions with food ingredient suppliers and one or two fellow brand-owners with which we may be able to collaborate in the months and years ahead.

The event was also an opportunity to catch up with some long-standing contacts and to build on ideas that we have been developing collectively for some time. These ideas are still being tested and worked through, but we’re confident that they will ultimately give rise to new products, new deals and new ventures.

Next year’s ISM Expo will be held between the 28th and 31st January 2024.

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Diversity and Inclusion Award 2023

On the evening of 22nd March 2023, Simply Doughnuts was named the winner of the Diversity & Inclusion Award category in the annual Business Champion Awards.

The event took place at East Wintergarden at Canary Wharf in London.

To reach the finals, every business had submitted a detailed entry and then made a formal presentation to a panel of judges, followed by a question and answer session. The standard of entries was reportedly extremely high, so we were delighted to be acknowledged in this way.

The award recognised our efforts to create employment, training and work experience opportunities for people from all sections of the community, including individuals who might be considered to be disadvantaged or under-represented in the world of work. In this, we work with publicly funded employability programmes, local training bodies and organisations working in the voluntary and charitable sectors.

We were also a finalist in the Innovation Award category and impressed judges with details of our recent work to improve product shelf lives from 30 to 42 days.

Business Champion Awards 2023

 

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Sharing Our Experience of Trade Missions

As many customers may know, we recently took part in a trade mission to the Gulfood Exhibition in Dubai. It was an exciting opportunity for us to meet new clients and other contacts, and to invite visitors to sample our products.

As with our previous visits to the Gulf States, we received invaluable help from what was formerly the Department for International Trade and is now operating as the Department for Business and Trade. When they asked us to record a short video to record our thoughts on the experience of taking part in a trade mission, we were happy to help. In it, we share some ideas of how best to prepare and how British companies can make the most of trade visits while they are out there.

Below are some pictures from our visit.Gulfood 2023Gulfood exhibition hall DubaiVisitors testing Simply Doughnuts products

Simply Doughnuts products on the UK display
‘Pride of Place.’ Simply Doughnuts products on the Great Britain and Northern Ireland display stand.

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Export Award Winner

On Thursday 9 February, judges at the 2023 Food Manufacture Excellence Awards announced Simply Doughnuts as the winner of the Export Award.

The event, which was held at the London Hilton Bankside, attracted food industry businesses from across Britain and featured a total of 17 categories.

Naming Simply Doughnuts as the winner in the Export Award, judges commented on our success in moving into new markets in the Middle East, and the effectiveness of our research and planning.

We were also shortlisted as a finalist in the Ambient Manufacturing Company of the Year Award. Other finalists in various categories included such well-known brands as Birds Eye, Princes, Charlie Bigham’s and Nestlé.Award winners on stageTrophy - winner of the Export Award at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards 2023

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Gulfood Exhibition, Dubai

We’ve been working closely with the Department of International Trade over recent months. We’ve already taken part in two missions to the Gulf States, starting with a trip to Qatar in June 2022. At the time, we visited as part of a trade delegation supported by DIT’s Great British Food Programme.

We’ve been making rapid progress, developing relationships with large, well-established retailers and, as a result, our products are being stocked in an ever-growing number of outlets across the Middle East.

Keen to maintain the momentum, we’re now making final preparations for another DIT-supported mission; this time to the #Gulfood Exhibition, a major international event that will take place in Dubai between 20th and 24th February.  It should be an excellent opportunity to meet potential distributors and stockists, and to explain the benefits of long shelf-life products to a new and exciting market.

Simply Doughnuts managing director, Shiraz Master said: “The support we’ve had from DIT has been invaluable. DIT staff have helped us to understand the regulatory landscape, to make really important new contacts and to develop our local presence through trade missions and one-to-one meetings with retailers, wholesalers and ordinary consumers.

“We’ve been very well supported in the UK and by DIT staff overseas. In Kuwait, for example, a DIT advisor spent most of the day with us even though it was her day off. She even fed us! The level of support and the willingness to go the extra mile has been amazing.”

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Business Champion Awards 2023

Simply Doughnuts has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2023 Business Champion Awards, in two categories: the Innovation Award and the Diversity and Inclusion Award.

Our nomination for the Innovation category was based on our continuing efforts to extend product shelf lives with a view to minimising food waste and retailers’ losses. It also highlighted ongoing improvements in our own operations, which have been re-engineered to minimise the use of energy and water, and to divert 100% of our company’s waste from landfill.

In addition, our entry noted our new product development record which, in 2022, included the introduction of a new vegan range, a new long-life doughnut glaze and new vanilla flavours for the export market.

Our Diversity and Inclusion entry focused on our work with publicly funded employability and training programmes, and with local training agencies, through which we have created career opportunities for people from a broad range of backgrounds. It also detailed our support for numerous community projects and multicultural events.

Awards Director Richard Alvin said “Competition was of a high standard, with over 800 entries, and our shortlisting judges have been blown away by the strength, determination and resilience of the entrants during one of the toughest periods in business.”

The full list of categories can be seen here: Business Champion Awards.

The awards evening will take place on 22nd March 2023, at Canary Wharf in London.

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Hiking Group Donation

On Christmas Day 2022, we supported Muslim Hikers with a donation of doughnuts for a party of 200 walkers, who ascended Mar Tor in the Peak District.

This was the second time in 2022 that we had assisted the group, which promotes diversity, physical activity and an appreciation for the great outdoors. The previous occasion was an organised walk in May, when around 130 of its members scaled Cadair Idris in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales.

Group founder, Haroon Mota wrote to us later that day to say: “We had a great day in the Peaks. Just wanted to say a massive thank you for looking after us. The doughnuts went down a treat.”

More photos can be found on Muslim Hikers’ social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Walkers with their doughnuts and coffee

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Finalist: Food Manufacture Excellence Awards

Just a few days after hearing that we’d made the finals of the International Trade Awards, we also received news that Simply Doughnuts had been shortlisted for two award categories in the 2023 Food Manufacture Excellence Awards.

We are one of the contenders for the Export Award and for the title of ‘Ambient Manufacturing Company of the Year.’ The full list of finalists can be seen here.

The 2023 awards ceremony will take place at the London Hilton Bankside on Thursday 9th February.Ambient Manufacturing Company of the Year Finalist

Export Award Finalist