A social enterprise which has set up two bakeries in the North East is hoping for a boost after TV chefs the Hairy Bikers said they made 鈥渢he best stotties ever鈥.
The Big River Bakery started as a food co-operative in Wylam, Northumberland, before opening a bakery and cafe in Shieldfield, Newcastle, after a successful crowdfunding campaign.
The bakery provides training for people wanting to get back into the world of work, and also employs 12 permanent staff. Its success led to a partnership with Teesside University to set up a second bakery in Middlesbrough.
Read more: go here for more North East business news
Hairy Biker Si King, who lives in the North East, has been a supporter of the project, leading to the Big River Bakery featuring on the final episode of the Hairy Bikers鈥 Go North series due to be broadcast tomorrow.
Founder Andy Haddon said: 鈥淚f you go to the big commercial bakeries, they make things primarily for a profit and they have lots of ingredients and slick marketing machines to sell things.
鈥淥ur products don鈥檛 have that and it鈥檚 not driven by the profit motive. We want to provide healthy, affordable food and make it available to everyone.
鈥淭he Hairy Bikers said ours are the best stotties they鈥檝e had and that鈥檚 a great endorsement.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 seen the show yet but they came and spent a day here and it was great fun. It gave everyone a lift and I think our customers would agree with them because they鈥檙e always telling us we make the best stotties too.鈥
Big River鈥檚 appearance on the Hairy Bikers鈥 Go North comes after the popular chefs also visited food businesses in Northumberland, Yorkshire and the Peak District for earlier episodes of the series.
The bakery span out from an environmental group formed in Wylam, initially selling at the village fair and then at food fairs around the North East. It moved to Newcastle in 2017 and in 2019 set up a permanent home in rundown premises in Shieldfield, though it has targetted the wholesale market rather than direct retail during the various lockdowns of the pandemic.
As well as its appearance on the BBC, Big River was recently asked to speak at an academic conference in the Netherlands on how public organisations and members of the public can work together to tackle societal challenges.
