Company background
After years of baking for family and friends, Rosalind Shillaker, decided to take her love of baking and convert it into a food business in 2019 and thus The Biscuit Tin was born. The Bakery business which is based in Bangor prides itself on using local ingredients wherever possible including real Irish butter.
The company wanted to develop a range of biscuits for the retail market and standard range so that they could dedicate their time to their bespoke biscuit ranges.
In order to overcome this issue, The Biscuit Tin, made contact with North West Regional College (NWRC) Business Support Centre (BSC) who supported them through the InnovateUs programme which is funded by the Department for the Economy.
This provided 30 hours of 1:1 mentoring support from NWRC Foodovation Manager, Stella Graham, who provided upskilling in recipe development, scale up production methods and processes, Legal labelling to include ingredient declarations, allergens and nutritional information and packaging formats to protect a fragile product.
On completion of the project, the company successfully developed a range of biscuit options for the retail market and standard range which they hope to grow further when they invest in their ‘at home’ kitchen.
Rosalind Shillaker, Owner of The Biscuit Tin, described the benefits of working with NWRC’s Business Support Centre via the InnovateUs programme: “The support I received from Foodovation was invaluable to me as a start up business. Stella gave me so much advice on the legalities and practicalities of running a food based business and I would’ve been lost without her! I cannot thank Foodovation enough for the support I received to make my business a reality.’’
