The reassurance of the simple loaf

(published october 2001)

There is a streak of opinion in our industry that holds us to be a sub branch of the DSS, providing cheap food for the needy and the poor. To produce a better loaf, a premium baked pie or cake, is a perceived snub to our core market of customers in search of the cheapest sustenance.

Even the possibility of producing a better loaf is met with tired cynicism, as if cheapness was the only goal we can pursue. My view has been, and will always be, that at our most expensive we still provide outstanding value for our customers. Since this is the essence of every loaf we bake, can we not move on and look for other qualities to prize.

I believe that at times of insecurity there is a natural instinct to question the direction of life, to reaffirm, modify, or discard the values that have paved our past. That time is now for many of us, perhaps all of us.

It saddens me when I talk to bakers about a loaf crafted with their own hands, a product of their work and time, dismissed as worthless, a lump of dough worth pennies. Our skill alone is worth more than that.

When we read of redundancies, bankruptcies and closures, it is hard not to take the blow as a criticism by the market of our worth, both personal and professional. It may be, but that criticism is not necessarily supported by a truth pertinent or reflective of our ability and skill. Where, in this difficult time, can we look for reassurance and direction?

This is where a dream is needed. To focus on what constitutes the important elements we want at the forefront of our community, and to start putting back into our industry the good and honorable elements that we value.

This dream has got to rich and vivid, beyond ‘making a buck’, and needs to set out a plan for creating a healthy varied baking industry for Britain. It will vary in detail for each one of us. There won’t be a single visionary or saviour - this dream must be constructed by individual bakers working collectively for change.

Excellence on every level is achievable, if we avoid sitting around and shrugging our shoulders. Wake up to the fact that we are entering a tough time, and it will take participation outside of the workplace to forge a healthy future.

I hear people say ‘we can’t get good bakers for love nor money’, yet how have you helped change that? There are students out there who want to hear the positive side of our work, who want to learn about the dedication and challenges, who want to be inspired. Maybe not all students, as some industry teachers tell me, but we must identify and attract those that do.

And do you know, our moral and professional duty is to be that guidance, to be role models who expound values greater than the chase for wealth. We have industry bodies and events that are flagging through lack of enthusiasm, yet we carry the expectation that the rest of the country should be enthused by us. If you truly want our businesses to be up there as stars within the economy, then you need to be out there active in our community to make it happen.