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We were recently contacted by a clinical support worker at the Acute Neurology Unit at Salford Royal Foundation Trust. Part of NHS Northern Care Alliance, the unit supports patients with neurological conditions from across Greater Manchester.

Each year, staff like to give out a small collection of presents to patients who have to spend Christmas Day in the ward. Under normal conditions, staff raise funds for this via donations, raffles and proceeds from the ward’s tuck shop, but safety restrictions during the Covid pandemic made the usual approaches unworkable. Consequently, the team decided to contact potential supporters in the North West that might be willing to contribute something to these Christmas packs.

We were, of course, very happy to help. We have long been a keen supporter of the NHS and all its teams who do such valuable work. We therefore agreed to donate four cases of doughnuts – enough for every patient on the 30-bed ward, plus a few left over for the ANU staff to enjoy.

As the photo (above) shows, they went down very well…

On the evening of Wednesday 10th November 2021, our MD, Shiraz Master attended a royal reception at Windsor Castle, hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales.

The event took place to recognise the winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2020 and 2021. Simply Doughnuts won last year under the category of Innovation.

The evening was also attended by the Princess Royal, the Countess of Wessex, the Duke of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Princess Alexandra.

In more normal times, the reception for the 2020 winners would have taken place the same year but, given the risks associated with the Covid pandemic, the event was deferred until 2021. Consequently, the evening was attended by winners from both years.

“It was a real privilege to attend,” said Shiraz. “It was, of course, an honour to meet and talk to HRH The Prince of Wales, and in such impressive surroundings. It was also really good to get a chance to meet other award winners and learn how the title has changed their businesses.

“For us, the Queen’s Award for Enterprise has certainly opened many doors and helped us to display a credibility that is important to so many of our clients. Winning was a pivotal point in the company’s development, and the Awards event was a great opportunity to celebrate and to reflect on that.”

British retailers and distributors are facing significant commercial pressures this autumn. For one thing, there’s a marked shortage of HGV drivers that is hampering logistical operations and forcing up the associated labour costs. For another, the cost of fuel for road vehicles is rising sharply, adding further to businesses’ expenses.

In conjunction with this, energy prices are also skyrocketing. That’s affecting the cost of gas and space-heating, but it’s also driving up the cost of electricity. That means that every process that requires power is costing companies more.

However, clients who shift their purchasing towards longer-life products can help to offset both problems.

Long-Life Products and Transport Costs

Products with longer shelf lives typically require fewer (but often larger) deliveries. For example, a doughnut that lasts 30 days clearly doesn’t need to be re-supplied so often as a more conventional product that may last only two days before it grows stale. The long-life product can be supplied in larger batches, with longer gaps between deliveries.

Fewer deliveries means fewer road miles, lower fuel costs and fewer demands on HGV drivers, whose time can then be used more productively, making other essential rounds. Importantly, it also means fewer associated carbon emissions.

It can of course be argued that short-life products can be frozen. That’s true, but that brings its own challenges. First, it requires the use of more expensive (and scarcer) refrigerated vehicles. At a time like this, that in itself can give rise to bottlenecks in distribution and to gaps on retailers’ shelves.

Second, those refrigerated vehicles are considerably heavier and more energy-hungry. That means higher fuel costs and a more significant carbon footprint – both of which retailers are generally anxious to avoid.

Long-Life Products and Energy Costs

The impact of rising energy costs isn’t just felt on the roads, of course. Once delivered, frozen products must be kept frozen until they are required for sale. That puts additional demands on industrial freezers, in terms of both storage space and electrical power.

By contrast, products that can be kept and displayed at ambient temperatures make no such demands and incur no such additional costs.

The Waste-Minimisation Trend

Products with longer shelf lives unquestionably help to reduce waste but, given the current economic climate, customers aren’t just looking at the problems of waste product and waste packaging. Energy, fuel and labour resources are all important considerations and their costs are rising steadily, so waste minimisation is essential here, too.

Longer-life products offer distinct advantages in this regard and clients are increasingly recognising their advantages. And these advantages aren’t only limited to road miles and refrigeration. Obviating the need for freezing also obviates the need for the labour-intensive process of removal, thawing and preparing for display. Similarly, longer-life products require less frequent inspections and stock-rotation on the shelves.

In short, there is a clear commercial benefit in moving towards products with longer shelf lives, and rising costs are making the case even stronger.

On the evening of 21^st October 2021, members of the Simply Doughnuts team attended the Baking Industry Awards at the Royal Lancaster hotel in London. We had entered under the Team of the Year category and we were naturally delighted to be announced as the winners.

The Awards featured 13 categories in all, and had attracted finalists of all types and sizes, ranging from small independent bakeries to major multiples and exporters. Our operations manager, Evita Dambrauska, collected the award on behalf of Simply Doughnuts.

The entry process had required details of many different aspects of our work: our products, policies, history and operations. Amongst other topics, questions covered staff communications, reporting procedures, quality control, sustainability measures and our approach to innovation.

The event was presented by TV personality, dancer and author, Craig Revel Horwood. The hosts remarked upon the very high standard of entries and commented that the Awards themselves set out “to acknowledge the skills, creativity and business acumen of the thriving UK baking sector.”

Speaking after the announcement, Evita said: “I’m really pleased to accept this award on behalf of the whole Simply Doughnuts team. Communication, skills and teamwork are all at the heart of what we do. Many of our previous awards have been about products, innovation and sustainability, but this is an award that recognises the efforts that people make right across our organisation. It’s for everyone here, and there is something very special about that.”

The full list of winners can be seen here.

Note:

Simply Doughnuts would also like to extend its thanks to the awards judges and to the category sponsor, Unifiller. In particular, we’d like to thank the company’s sales manager Simon Lawton-Hayes, for all his help with the organisation and logistics. The evening went very well and the sponsors’ contributions did not go unnoticed.

Since the easing of lockdown restrictions, the Covid pandemic might not have captured quite so many headlines as it once did, but staff in the NHS continue to battle with it, and to help people with countless other health conditions, too.

That’s why, when we were approached recently by East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, we were more than happy to make a product donation to show our appreciation for their work.

We made the donation to the Staff Wellbeing Team, backing a project to support staff in the Emergency Department. The doughnuts went into “wellbeing bags”, which were given to staff to promote wellbeing, relaxation, self-care and time out.

As the Community Fundraiser for ELHT&Me (the official charity for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust) remarked: “Something as small as a sweet treat can be just the pick-me-up that teams who are working under extreme pressures may need.

“Your donation was a huge morale-boost for our hardworking colleagues during what has been an extremely difficult time.”

We are, of course, proud to support the NHS and to show recognition for its continuing, invaluable work.

On the night of 21st September, we were delighted to hear that, a little over a year since we began our relationship with Bobby’s Foods, the company had picked up the ‘Product Launch of the Year’ award at the 2021 Retail Industry Awards.

Bobby’s was named winner of the Grocery category in recognition of the success of its retail launch of our Classic Mini Ring Doughnuts, available in store under our special co-branding: “7 Mini Classics.”

The award was accepted by Bobby’s Foods National Sales Manager, John Lucas. Also attending were company Director Dave Suckling and Commercial Director Jon Platts.

We were thrilled by the news and we congratulate the Bobby’s team for a well-deserved win. We’re now looking forward to many years of continued partnership.

Many thanks to all those who voted.

On 13th August, we heard that Simply Doughnuts had been named as a finalist in the Baking Industry Awards 2021. The event is organised by the well-known British Baker magazine.

We were shortlisted under the Team of the Year category.

Besides the usual award submission form, finalists are also selected on the basis of a site visit by the award judges and sponsors. We welcomed the judges just a few weeks previously and during their tour they remarked on the efficiency of our operation and communications.

The full list of finalists can be found  on the Baking Industry Awards website.

The award evening itself will take place on Thursday 21 October at the Royal Lancaster in London.

At the end of July, Simply Doughnuts added another prestigious award to its growing collection.

The 2021 Made in the North West Awards took place on the evening of Wednesday 28 July at the Lowry Hotel in Salford. During the event, judges announced Simply Doughnuts as the winner of the Food & Drink Award category.

They noted that, as a company, we were “intriguing, committed to sourcing local ingredients and really innovative.”

Organisers commented that the event, which was held in partnership with the Department for International Trade, “acknowledged and celebrated the cream of North West manufacturing, who are among the most pioneering and dynamic in the world.”

The Food & Drink Award was one of the two most hotly contested categories on the night, featuring a total of eight finalists.

“We’re delighted to have been named as a winner,” said Simply Doughnuts founder and managing director Shiraz Master. “The last two years have been challenging by anyone’s standards, and we – like everyone else –  have been busy adapting our strategies to cope with the pandemic. I’m very proud of the efforts that everyone in the Simply Doughnuts team have made over this period, and this latest award is very much a recognition of all that hard work.”

At the beginning of July 2021, British newspapers and trade magazines ran stories about how a national shortage of HGV drivers has been causing severe supply chain disruption across the UK.

On 1^st July, for example, The Grocer wrote that “A host of major food and drink manufacturers have issued warnings to their retail and wholesale customers over their service levels as the impact of the driver shortage becomes more tangible.”

On the following day, the BBC reported that a combination of Brexit and the Covid pandemic has led to a shortage of 60,000 lorry drivers. As a result, the country is now witnessing a reduced availability of many common foodstuffs as well as other commodities including fuel.

Supermarkets have issued notices to suppliers noting delays of up to 12 hours in distribution depots and warning that short shelf-life products might be at particular risk.

The present difficulties highlight an important advantage of products with extended shelf lives. If a product has a shelf-life of just 48 hours and it spends 12 of those delayed at a distribution centre, then it’s clear that retailers will face greatly increased risks of that product spoiling before sale. Thus, it’s unsurprising that supermarkets and other retailers are expressing concerns about short-lived products such as bread, fresh cakes, sandwiches and confectionery.

By contrast, longer-lived products minimise those risks and allow business to continue much more as normal. In the case of our doughnuts, 12 hours in a distribution centre is only a small fraction of their 27-day minimum shelf-life, and should create negligible additional risk.

The UK’s present distribution challenges, coupled with a general increase in awareness about the need for waste-minimisation, are all helping to highlight the commercial and environmental benefits associated with longer shelf-life products.

In the week before National Doughnut Week (11 to 18 May) we received an enquiry from Birchwood Park in Warrington, a business park that’s home to over 165 enterprises. The management team wanted to celebrate by giving out doughnuts to the staff working at the park.

We were, of course, delighted to help, and quickly set about organising a special delivery of mini rings. They were delivered to the site on 12^th May, and the team at Birchwood lost no time in distributing them to the various firms and workers. Their efforts soon made it onto Twitter, and we’re grateful to the team for sharing some of their photos with us.

We’re also very glad to hear that they went down so well.