Reids Of Caithness Makes The Shortlist For Scottish Baker Of The Year

2nd May 2012

Thanks to the residents of Thurso, Reids of Caithness has been recognised by a panel of expert judges as producing one of the best individual cakes in the land - a Crofters Cake.

Customers from across Scotland voted for their best bakery products during March and the top 30 products in each of the 5 categories were baked and delivered to Fife for judging by a panel of independent experts led by artisan Robert Ross including retired master bakers with extensive experience of the bakery sector in Scotland.

The panel professionally judged all 150 items shortlisted in the 5 categories: bread, scones, sweets, savouries and morning rolls to decide on which should be put through as the best in the land.

Each category was divided into 3 regions, covering Northern, Central and Southern Scotland and only 33 bakers baking a total of 45 of the best products were deemed good enough to win a prize and be automatically entered for the ultimate accolade Scottish Baker of the Year.

Within each category, the judges have awarded regional Gold, Silver and Bronze awards and all our shortlisted bakers have been invited to a prestigious ceremony in May where they will find out what colour their regional award will be. All of the regional winners have also been judged on a national level meaning that they could be recognised as having the best bakery product in Scotland! All of the awards will be presented by artisan baker and TV presenter Paul Hollywood who is backing the competition.

The final results will remain a closely guarded secret until 12th May when Paul will announce the results and also crown the first ever Scottish Baker of the Year.

But for now, Reids of Caithness can take pride in their place as having produced one of the best sweet treats in the land. But they will have to wait until the 12th May until they know exactly how far they have gone in the competition!

Head judge Robert Ross commented "The sheer number of votes has given us a good indication of how strongly the people of Scotland feel about their high street bakers and we were delighted with the quality of the products we had to judge. We believe Reids of Caithness are worthy of their place on the shortlist and they should be proud to be counted amongst the best of the best of Scottish baking."

Chief Executive of Scottish Bakers Alan Clarke said "Reids of Caithness do a great job day in and day out delivering a quality product and I am sure their customers will agree. What is key for me though is that this competition has given me great heart that the people of Scotland really do value their high street bakers and are pleased to have been able to back them by voting in this competition."