The first meeting of the BFTWG took place in September. By this point, the Federation of Bakers had already drafted a report with suggested amendments to the regulations, “with a particular focus on the disparity between Defra’s view and that of the EU Commission on the definition of flour as processed/unprocessed”. As you might expect, the announcement of the advertising ban wasn’t entirely welcomed by the food industry. Kate Halliwell, the Food and Drink Federation’s chief scientific officer, expressed her disappointment at the government’s insistence on pressing ahead with “headline chasing policies”.

The planned legislation will apply a watershed at 9pm, so adverts for HFSS food and drink will only be shown on UK TV and on-demand programmes between 9pm and 5.30am. The online ban will affect all forms of paid-for advertising, with the scope encompassing social media, videos and influencer marketing. However, brand-only advertising will be allowed as long as an HFSS product is not identifiable, and the ban only applies to large businesses – those with 250 or more employees. Even before Natasha’s Law had come into effect, the industry discovered there were more compliance headaches on the way, potentially affecting cakes, biscuits, morning goods and pizza. Wasted food is essentially wasted money, so as the UK enters a recession and belts tighten, businesses and consumers will be looking more closely at this issue. As far as the public and national press were concerned, the law-related bakery story of the year was without doubt Colin versus Cuthbert – the battle of the caterpillars.These are the rules that specify the technical requirements for bread and flour produced in UK, covering various aspects such as the essential ingredients for flour, permitted ingredients for flour and bread and restrictions regarding the use of the term ‘wholemeal’, for example. She was also awarded Star Baker in week three after her medusa-themed bread showstopper wowed the judges. The decision means folic acid will join calcium, iron, niacin and thiamine on the list of mandatory ingredients for the fortification of flour, with the implementation to be included in the Defra review. It was also a theme amongst the Innovation category at Britain’s Best Loaf this year, with the winner and highly commended loaves incorporating surplus products. Gail’s Bakery creates a porridge from unsold loaves, which is mixed through the dough, to create its Waste-less Sourdough.

He was also crowned Star Baker in Botanicals Week after impressing the judges with his flavours. In the same week, he also came second in the technical, which saw him bake an impressive lemon and thyme drizzle cake. As pointed out by Ben Evans, legal director and chartered trademark attorney at Blake Morgan, no timeline has been set out for reaching a verdict in the case and “what that decision will be when the time comes is equally unclear”. When the UK was part of the EU, the so-called ‘mutual recognition principle’ meant flour from the UK could be placed on the market of other EU member states, and vice versa, regardless of national rules as long as it complied with EU law. However, Brexit obviously put paid to this.Thankfully, British Baker has done the hard work for you, gathering thoughts from industry experts. In part one of three, we explore the top trends likely to play out on the bakery scene in 2021. Creating new products from surplus ones is another – one which consumers are increasingly interested in. A survey by Mintel in June 2019 found 43% of bread consumers would be interested in buying bread made using leftovers from the production process, while 38% are up for buying bread made from leftover ingredients from other food and drink manufacturing processes. There was concern before the legislation came into force as to whether the food industry was ready for the new rules, with eight out of 10 food business owners telling a GS1 survey they felt unprepared. However, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) launched a hub in the summer to help businesses, including bakeries and cafés, comply with the legislation, and fears have so far been allayed. Nostalgic bakery goods deliver the same warm feeling and as we move into 2021 with Covid very much still on our doorsteps, is likely to be on consumers’ agendas in the coming months,” adds Michael Schofield, marketing manager at Bakels. Marks & Spencer has embraced this by using leftover baguettes and boules from its in-store bakeries to create garlic bread, which is then frozen and sold. Roberts Bakery tapped into this kind of thinking with its luxury hot cross buns made with upcycled bread ferment – misshapen white loaves that otherwise would have gone to waste.