Who is the Bun King?

BUN, BUN, bun – and more bun! Easter is right around the corner, and everyone is gearing up to make their purchase, but which bun should you buy? What better way to help you choose than with a bun competition?

Lucky for you, that is exactly what J.F. Mills provided with its ‘King of the Buns’ competition.

Six bakeries from across the island were invited to vie for the title: Hammonds Baker y, Maxfield Bakery, Regal Bakery, Golden Loaf Baker y, Purity Baker y, and National Bak ing Company Ltd. Each baker y submitted two buns each, with

the winner to be chosen through a blind test.

Let the tasting begin! A slice was carefully selected from each bun, and then they were graded on shape, texture, colour, and fruit distribution before a bite was even taken of the juicy buns to mark for flavour.

And what ’s a bun contest without a bun-eating challenge?

While the judges deliberated, MC Jenny Jenny invited guests to step up to the plate and put their bun-eating skills to the test. This was done with ‘hot cross bun’ with no cheese, just water to wash it down. Challenging, right? The contestants were placed in pairs, each given a bun, and, as a team, had to finish their buns before the others to be declared the winner.

Through the sweat, laughter, and tears, Shantoy Keith and Ryan Ebanks came out victorious, each earning a specially pack aged J.F. M ills basket.

Now that everyone was full, it was time to work it off by trying to remember the words of the J.F. M ills Easter jingle. I t was challenging, but proved very entertaining.

Later, it was time to get down to the meat of the matter. Walking away with the title and 27 bags of flour was Golden Loaf Bakery from Ocho Rios, St Ann. The second-place prize went to the baking giants National Baking Company Ltd, who won a mixer. Maxfield Bakery rounded out the top three winning 10 bags of flour, which Managing Direc tor Tarik Perk ins has committed to donating to charity.

PHOTOS BY KENYON HEMANS/PHOTOGRAPHER This fruit bun is sliced and ready for tasting.

PHOTOS BY KENYON HEMANS/PHOTOGRAPHER Chief judge Winston Piper, lecturer at the School of Baking at the University of Technology, Jamaica, and Marcia Frasier-Cummings.

Participating in the bun eatingcompetition are (from left) Jordan Gilfillian, Meschekia Carr, and Rasaie Shurland.

Left: Shantoy Keith (left) and Ryan Ebanks emerged the winners of the bun-eating competition. They are presented with their gift baskets by Donna-Kaye Sharpe.

PHOTOS BY KENYON HEMANS/PHOTOGRAPHER Below: J.F. Mills’ Donna-Kaye Sharpe presents Tarik Perkins, managing director of Maxfield Bakery, with the third-place prize.

Lisa Tomlinson (right), sponsorship and events manager at Continental Baking Company, collects her second-place prize from Donna-Kaye Sharpe, trade marketing and distribution manager at JF Mills.

Donna-Kaye Sharpe (left), trading marketing and distribution manager at J.F. Mills, presents Jannelle Garcia, human resources manager at Golden Loaf Bakery, with the first-place prize.