Archive for category: Prewetts news

Northumbrian Fine Foods Ltd (NFF), the UK’s biggest gluten free biscuit manufacturer, is investing £1.2m in new baking production capabilities that will create around 40 new jobs at their Gateshead facility.

The investment is the result of soaring demand for their biscuits in the ‘free from’ sector that has seen turnover increase over the last five years by 80%.

The baking oven will increase production capacity at NFF by 40% and will principally focus on the manufacture of ‘indulgent’ cookies, rotary moulded biscuits and bake bars such as Granola. The 40 new jobs created by the investment will see total employment at the plant increase to around 200 people.

Stewart McLelland, managing director of NFF, said: “This investment is great news for Gateshead and is testament to the hard work of everyone at Northumbrian Fine Foods. We have seen significant growth in the ‘free from’ market for our ‘indulgent cookies’ and other biscuits, especially from the multiple retail sector.

“The new baking oven will play a key role in meeting current demand and also ensure that we can continue to grow the business significantly over the coming years.”

As well as supermarket own-label products, NFF also manufactures biscuits under the Prewett’s brand, which has enjoyed recent success with a significant expansion in its range to include milk-free biscuits, ‘indulgent’ all-butter cookies and individually wrapped chocolate coated biscuit bars, all of which are gluten free.

“We are planning further extensions to our range that will focus on everyday favourite biscuits in a variety of formats,” said McLelland.

About 60% of the UK’s gluten free sweet biscuit production is carried out at the NFF site in Gateshead. The new bake transporting oven will become fully operational by September and the recruitment process for new employees has now commenced.

Prewett’s, the UK’s leading gluten free biscuit brand, is throwing its support behind Coeliac UK’s Awareness Week (9 to 15 May) by running a series of social media competitions to help raise the profile of the condition.

According to Coeliac UK, around 1% of the UK population has coeliac disease but only 24% of those with the condition are medically diagnosed. This means that half a million people in the UK are living with coeliac disease, undiagnosed. Coeliac disease is a common digestive condition where a person has an adverse reaction to gluten – a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.

The aim of Awareness Week is to put people who are suffering with the symptoms of coeliac disease on a pathway to diagnosis, so they can be properly supported to manage their condition and avoid long term health complications.

To help promote Awareness Week, Prewett’s will be running a series competitions on social media such as Twitter and Facebook where a daily winner will receive a box of Prewett’s biscuits.

David Wood, Prewett’s Business Director, said: “Coeliac UK’s Awareness Week is an incredibly worthwhile campaign deserving of all our support. Our growing range of great tasting cookies has been specially created for those with coeliac disease and who require a gluten free diet.”

More details on Coeliac Awareness Week at www.coeliac.org.uk

To find out more about participating in the Awareness Week competitions follow Prewett’s on Twitter @Prewetts1872 and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Prewetts/

Terms and Conditions of Competition Entry

To be in with a chance to win the full Prewett’s range you must send in a full original gluten free recipe to us via direct message to the Prewett’s Facebook or Twitter account (photo and ingredients). The competition will run from Monday 9th May – Monday 16th May when we will announce the winner.

By submitting the recipe you are agreeing to us potentially using this for our Pennie Prewett’s blog posts.

Prewett’s, the UK’s leading gluten free biscuit brand, has further extended its range to include Milk Free biscuits, ‘indulgent’ All Butter cookies and individually wrapped chocolate coated biscuit bars.

The brand, owned by Northumbrian Fine Foods (NFF), is expecting to double both its distribution points and its retail sales value with the launch.

“These attractively packaged biscuits have been well received by the market,” says NFF’s Business Director David Wood. “We are confident they will appeal to a broad spectrum of consumers and much of the new range features ‘indulgent’ type ingredients such as Belgian chocolate.

“We have already gained a significant number of listings with multiple retailers and have secured an extension to our contract with distributor RH Amar to supply the new products to the impulse and convenience markets.”

The new offerings, which comprise four varieties of All Butter cookies with finest top-end ingredients, four varieties of Milk Free everyday favourite biscuits and a Chocolate Coated Biscuit bar will allow retailers to broaden their ‘Free From’ consumer base, says Wood.

The milk and gluten free range of biscuits which contains everyday favourites such as Choc Chip and Digestive is targeting the 40% of ‘Free From’ category consumers whom require Milk/Dairy Free products.  These are often purchased by mums for their children.

The All Butter cookies will appeal to those wanting an indulgent snack. The All Butter cookie range is promoted under the ‘Prewett’s Gorgeously Gluten Free’ strapline.

The gluten free chocolate biscuit bar aptly named ‘Chocoful’ is reminiscent to mainstream products such as the iconic Rocky Bar, and according to Wood, will for the first time deliver a tasty and satisfying new option for gluten free consumers seeking a lunch box or handbag snack.

Good news everyone! This year our beloved Christmas Tree Shortbread biscuits are available in both Tescos and Asda so now you can get your gluten-free festive fix!

This week I got to spend a lovely morning with a local gluten-free mum and her daughter chatting kind choices and the gluten impact. Here is her take on finding the balance, you can read more of her adventures over at wakemummymake.wordpress.com

“It was only a matter of time before a friend of mine who works for Prewett’s Gluten Free Biscuit company and I colluded. After a good few oohs and ahhhs, and some scrutiny of the pleasing packaging, we got going on one of my favourite subjects. Gluten.

Really?! Well, nearly. It’s not far behind chatting through the H&M catalogue and speculating on Channel 4’s The Good Wife.

I’m not committed to any specific way of eating, but instead have determined that as a family, we will make kind choices about as much of our food as possible. When I took up marathon training, I upped my carb intake to cope with the mileage, but the piles of pasta left me with bloating and itchy skin, and since then I’ve been a bit sensitive to gluten.

I got to digging into the differences between heirloom and modern wheat, and it became quickly apparent that the current crops of hybridised dwarf-wheat, and subsequently heaving shelves of refined flour based products just ‘aint natures way. We don’t seem to be designed to deal with the additional, adjusted amounts of gluten proteins that we are now presented with.

It seems kindest to ourselves then, to steer clear of the sticky stuff. And I’m definitely the better and more balanced for it.

Balance is my buzz word, and while I’d rather eat healthier, naturally gluten free alternatives than stock up on the supermarket ranges, biscuits are an exception. Surely everyone has a sweet spot sometimes? (I’ve got Anna from Frozen singing in my head… I wanna stuff some chocolate in my faaaaaaaccccee!) And when it does come calling, I’d rather have a treat on hand that won’t go against my grain, so to speak.

Enter my friend and a box of Prewett’s Gluten Free biscuits to work our way through. Well, someone’s got to right?! The littlest lady in residence got into the oaty box straight away, while I went for some fantastically layered Chocolate Bourbons.

With a pleasingly round take on the classic, it’s got posh poured all over it, thanks to the thick, velvety chocolate covering. Once bitten, it packs a good crunch with a tell-tale trail of crumbs, and the creamy filling has a satisfying spread to finish with.

The Chocolate Digestive biscuits are a great gluten free alternative too. The round wavy biscuits actually stay together a lot better than the originals, so the smoothness of the chocolate becomes a stronger part of the over-all taste. I’d happily keep these in the cupboard (or at least try too) for anyone, gluten-free or not, and would much rather swap them in for the usual run-of-the-flour-mill kids biscuits.

Every so often, a bourbon or two is truly being kind to yourself.”