Swansea’s The Lewis Bakery, part of Lewis Pie and Pasty company, has introduced new packs of its popular Shirgar butter Welsh cakes. Highlighting their local production and Welsh ingredients, making them easier for retailers to display and ensuring more customers get to enjoy their ‘fresh from the griddle’ taste.
As part of the company’s drive to promote its Welsh roots and maximise the use of local ingredients, the recipe uses Shirgar Welsh butter, which is produced just down the road in Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire. The sweet yet slightly salty taste of the award winning butter enhances the flavour of the Welsh cakes, which have proved a huge hit with customers since they were launched in March.
The attractive new boxing and wrapping highlights the use of Shirgar butter and also that the Welsh cakes are made in Swansea by The Lewis Bakery. This gives customers an easy way to see that they are supporting an important local business and helping to minimise food miles.
“We’re passionate about our Welsh roots and getting the message out about the fantastic food products produced in Wales,” said Wilf Lewis, Lewis Pie’s Operations Director. “We aim to use as many Welsh suppliers as possible, both in the Lewis Bakery products and in the savoury pastries produced under the Lewis Pies brand. Our customers want to know that they are supporting local companies and the new packaging enables us to highlight that. At the same time, it helps ensure that the Welsh cakes are better presented and protected in transit, whether you’re just taking them home locally or going further afield, so you can enjoy a true taste of Wales anywhere in the world.”
Lewis’s have been making and baking Welsh cakes at their Swansea site for over 80 years, using a traditional recipe, but only started using award winning Shirgar Welsh butter as part of the mix earlier this year. The Lewis Bakery focuses on delivering quality hand-finished products and sourcing local ingredients wherever and whenever possible. The company also produces breads, cakes and other various sweet treats whilst the Lewis Pies part of the business focuses on savoury pastries including pies, pasties, sausage roll and slices. The company sells its goods through a network of cafés, restaurants, fast food outlets, independent and multiple retailers, butchers and specialist food outlets.
“We have a team of skilled bakers working on our products and the Welsh cakes are still hand turned on a griddle which gives them that authentic toasty finish,” Wilf continued. “We’re always looking to satisfy our customers and exceed their expectations and this is just one of the products we are working to improve at the moment. We’re going to be packaging many more of our products in future so that they can be enjoyed by people who are not only looking for tasty food but also want to support local jobs.”
We’re delighted with the way our collaboration with the Lewis Bakery is developing. We are very pleased with the continuing improvements the company is making to ensure these delicious treats, which are made extra special through the use of our Welsh butter, can be enjoyed by more people.
Jon Lewis at Shirgar Butter