New business plan takes the biscuit
Crieff baking family to share their secrets
A Crieff bakery, one of Scotland’s oldest, is to launch the county’s first baking school.
Campbell’s, headed up by husband and wife Iain and Ailsa, hope to capitalise on the continuing resurgence in baking and breadmaking skills by launching the project.
Iain Campbell says the school is the “next step in developing the 59 King Street premises, where the business has been based since 1929”.
They will offer a series of 3½hour tuition sessions on Saturday afternoons.
With Iain at the helm, the classes will cover traditional sweet and savoury Scottish baking, breadmaking and confectionery skills.
There will also be classes on more unusual worldwide influences.
The school, with classes suitable for all skill levels, will be based at the Campbell’s bakery in King Street, Crieff, and plans to eventually become a “brown sign” visitor destination with increased production space, offering training and bakery tours
Seventh-generation baker Iain said: “We are very excited indeed to announce the launch of this bake school.
“Baking is in my DNA and is something I love to do.
“It would appear that many more people in this country are now wanting to join me and learn more about baking, to master the professional techniques and develop their own ideas and signature bakes.
“Clearly this has been fuelled by TV programmes such as ‘The Great British Bake Off ’.
“We’re not complaining as, not only have they made baking hugely popular again, they have put artisan producers like us in the spotlight.
“In many areas of food and drink, from farming to production, there has been a marked shift back to the notion of craftsmanship, quality and provenance, none more so than in baking, which gives a better result with quality ingredients and proven recipes, for example.
“We’ve also seen a desire to maintain and build on old skills in this country, which, with people living a faster-paced, more disposable lifestyle, may otherwise have died out.”
Iain, who won the British Confectioners’ Challenge Cup in 2012-14 and has been responsible for training two winners of the Young Scottish Baker of the Year Award, added: “We had thought about creating our own bake school for a while.
“Regular customers had asked us about one and said they thought it would be a good idea.
“I am used to interacting with people and giving out tuition.
“Something I have really enjoyed doing for the past few years is hosting local schoolchildren who have come into the bakery for a day at work experience.
“Crieff attracts a great many tourists and day trippers and is something of a foodie town, with its many independent delis, fishmongers, butchers and quality restaurants along with The Famous Grouse Experience at Glenturret Distillery.
“We pretty much have a captive audience here and we’re fairly confident that people will travel across the Central Belt to come to the school.”
The King Street shop in Crieff is attached to the former Strathearn Hotel, which has been deteriorating Cambell’s is one of the country’s oldest bakeries since 2007.
The Campbells, who are heavily involved in efforts to regenerate Crieff town centre, want to see the building developed into an attractive site which will benefit the whole town and provide them with the scope to safely expand their premises.
Ailsa, who is a graphic designer by trade and is responsible for Campbells’ marketing strategies and visual merchandising, explained: “We are presenting a unified front of local businesses to propose a workable plan for this building. If we can get the go-ahead there will be enough room for us to expand our business.
“It’s the first step to obtaining a brown sign for the bakery as a top visitor destination.”
For details of Campbells Bake School call 01764 652114 or check out www.campbellsbakery.com.