Head baker Alan Leith and business development manager Garry Croy were part of the judging panel for the Scottish Baker of the Year award in Dunfermline yesterday (22 March), as they came face to face with 850 baked goods of all shapes and sizes. The categories of sweet treats on offer included scones, loaves, cakes, morning rolls and biscuits.
Over 11,000 bakery customers from across Scotland voted for their favourite bakery bites, before a shortlist of 115 bakers were asked to send in their products for yesterday’s judging.
More than 50 industry experts were on the judging panel to examine each category with items then marked anonymously to avoid favouritism, on attributes including appearance, texture, flavour and originality.
Alan commented, “It was great to be part of the judging process and see the amount of effort that the bakers had put into their entries.
“It was tough to mark each entry as they were all so good but I’m looking forward to the results being revealed.”
The results will remain a closely guarded secret until the Scottish Baker of the Year award ceremony in May where Macphie will also discover if it has been named Manufacturer of the Year, a new award category where customers can vote for their top manufacturer in the industry.