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Daytrippers (Bolton) is a volunteer-led charity that supports families that have children with disabilities. It has been organising accessible trips since 2003. When one of its volunteers contacted us to ask if we would support a fund-raising event – its “21st Birthday Ball” – we were only too happy to help.

We donated a supply of Classic Mini Ring doughnuts that were put to several different uses. Individual doughnuts were used as party favours for those who attended the evening event, while complete tubs were sold to raise funds. A further 16 packs were given to members of the dance troupe as a thank you for entertaining guests, and others will be sold from the kitchen over the coming days.

The event, which celebrated the organisation’s 21^st anniversary, took place on 15 June and, as a result of sales, donations and auctions, the organisers raised around £1650.

More details about Daytrippers, its activities and events can be found on its website: https://www.daytrippersbolton.org.uk.

Simply Doughnuts was proud to be the sponsor of the Micro Business of the Year category in the 2024 Hyndburn Business Awards, which took place on 13 June at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel.

The finalists in the category included:

• Lancashire Canine Academy
• KTZ Dance
• Michelle Farrell Online Business Management
• Samantha’s Clubhouse

Simply Doughnuts chair, Mike Wilson, presented the award to the category winner, Lancashire Canine Academy.

After the event, Hyndburn Business Awards Organiser Rachel Kay wrote to thank the award sponsors and supporters, saying: “It was absolutely wonderful to celebrate with you all; thank you so much for supporting us and helping us make HBA24 happen… We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Pictured above, L to R: Mike Wilson, Amirah Patel & Evita Dambrauska (of Simply Doughnuts), together with Marcia Ashworth and Naomi Ashworth of Lancashire Canine Academy.
Photo by Liz Henson Photography.

We are pleased to announce that Simply Doughnuts has been named as a finalist in the 2024 British Business Awards. We made the shortlist in the Small Business of the Year category.

Our award entry emphasised our ongoing efforts to introduce longer-lasting products to the retail industry and their impact on minimising both food waste and retailer losses. Our submission also noted our ongoing success in growing our export markets, and our continuing commitment to achieving the highest quality standards.

Hosted by Smallbusiness.co.uk, the awards themselves will take place in London on the 14th November 2024.

In May, we supplied some of our individually wrapped Ring Bake doughnuts to a North West walking group, hoping to gather some useful feedback. The group members took them on a 14km walk from Elterwater in the Lake District.

The doughnuts made a welcome addition to the walkers’ packed lunches and the feedback was generally very good. It included positive comments about both their taste and texture. None of the members had tried the Ring Bakes before and many were surprised to discover how soft they were. (The light structure is the result of a unique process that entails steaming and then baking.)

The individual packaging was also considered an attractive feature, making the products convenient and well suited for inclusion in rucksacks, picnics and packed lunches.

We’re delighted to announce that for the second time in three years, Simply Doughnuts has been named as a finalist for the Grocer Gold Awards in the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ category.

We received our official notification on 10^th May. The full list of award categories and finalists can be seen here on the 2024 Grocer Gold Awards website.

The ‘Waste Not Want Not’ award celebrates companies that have made significant efforts to minimise waste – in terms not only in terms of ingredients and packaging, but also in terms of resources such as water, fuel and energy.

Over the last 12 months, we have continued to reduce our use of energy and materials, despite rising demand and the launch of a whole new range in July 2023.  We now produce less waste dough, we have introduced more efficient plant and equipment, and we have further streamlined our logistics to reduce the need for road miles and associated emissions.

We have continued to divert 100% of waste from landfill but, now, we are sending a sizeable proportion of waste to anaerobic digestion plant, where it becomes a valuable source of low-carbon energy.

Our shortlisting in this prestigious industry award programme reflects progress in these and other areas.

“This is the second time that we have been named as a finalist in this category,” said company MD, Shiraz Master. “We know the competition is very intense so it suggests that we’re doing something worthwhile. We’ve been finding new ways to reduce our carbon footprint and to minimise material waste, but we’ve also been moving forward with new product development as well. For example, our new line of Ring Bakes offer even longer shelf-lives, so we’re offering retailers even more ways to reduce the risk of waste-related losses.

“Progress like this is always a team effort, of course, so I’m delighted that our collective efforts are being recognised in such a respected and fiercely contested awards competition.”

The Grocer Gold Awards will be held on Tuesday 2nd July at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

We’re delighted to announce that our Ring Bake Doughnuts have been shortlisted in the ‘Best Bakery Product’ category of the 2024 Food Management Today Awards.

The full list of finalists can be seen on the Food Management Today website. (Opens in a new tab.)

The shortlisting followed our official submission in November and the testing of product samples, which we sent to the judging panel in February 2024. The judges made their decision on the basis of criteria including great taste, value, and modern packaging.

The award ceremony itself will take place at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London on Thursday 27^th June 2024. The event will be hosted by the renowned chef, author and TV presenter, Michel Roux Jr.

At the end of March, we pledged to support a charity fundraising effort by four members of Tesco’s supply chain team.

James Clark, Matt Chapman, Austin Gwilliam and Grace Mitchell wrote to us to explain that, in May, they would be taking part in the Samworth Challenge, aiming to raise £2,000 for The Brain Tumour Charity. The event, which is known for being physically demanding, takes place in the Lake District and entails 10 hours of cycling, hiking and kayaking. The team made the commitment in memory of Grace’s aunt, Kim Mitchell who passed away in February 2023.

The Brain Tumour Charity is the world’s leading brain tumour charity and the largest dedicated funder of research into brain tumours globally.

Anyone wishing to support the team can make a pledge via their dedicated Just Giving web page.

On 25 March, we donated 144 tubs of doughnuts to Blackburn Food Bank in support of its Easter Treat food parcels.

Based on Oakenhurst Road close to the town centre, Blackburn Food Bank is part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust. It is run mainly by volunteers and seeks to help those who may be struggling with poverty and hunger. In particular, it supports people who are referred to it by partners including GPs, social workers, housing providers and the emergency services. Since its foundation in 2012, it has provided over 440,000 meals to nearly 120,000 residents of Blackburn with Darwen.

In 2023, nearly 7,400 of the people it supported were children.

We first began working with the organisation towards the end of last year, when we contributed to its Christmas campaign. It performs a very valuable service for local people and communities, and we intend to provide regular support.

The organisation’s ‘Give Help’ web page provides more details about how companies, individuals and other interested parties can support its work.

On 14 March 2024, Simply Doughnuts signed a letter of commitment to support the principles and delivery of the UK Food Waste Reduction Roadmap.

The Roadmap is designed by IDG and the waste-minimisation charity WRAP – ‘The Waste and Resources Action Programme’. It provides a structure through which UK retailers, food manufacturers, hospitality and food service companies can reduce food waste. In this way, all the organisations that sign up to it can contribute to delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 12.3, which calls for a 50% reduction in global food waste per capita by 2030.

The Roadmap features several important milestones that will need to be reached on this ambitious journey. WRAP writes:

“With less than eight years left to achieve this ambition, we are calling on all large food and drink businesses to commit to the Roadmap by: adopting a food waste reduction target, measuring food waste in accordance with best practice, sharing their data with WRAP annually, and working together to take action to reduce food waste in operations, in supply chains and in households.”

Simply Doughnuts is proud to be supporting the initiative. Since our formation, food waste minimisation has been a key focus of our R&D work, and we have enabled retailers to achieve substantial reductions by offering products with greatly extended shelf-lives. However, there is always more that companies can do, and this Roadmap will help us to target incremental improvements.

Companies wishing to sign up can do so via the WRAP website, which also provides a number of free tools, templates and guidance documents.