Aberdeenshire Bakery Reformulates Top Selling Products for Health

16 May 2014 --- Chalmers Bakery, a traditional Scottish bakery based in Aberdeenshire, has adjusted the recipes of some of its bestselling bakery products to make them healthier for customers as part of the Scottish Food and Drink Federation's (SFDF) innovative Reformulation Programme funded by the Scottish Government.

The company which has 12 shops in Aberdeen has achieved salt and fat reduction for its buttery, pie shells and puff pastry recipes, as well as sugar reduction for the shortbread base recipe, delivering an overall calorie reduction. A new vegetable pie, consisting of one portion of the recommended 5 A DAY, has been created to introduce a healthier pie option alongside traditional scotch pies.

Through the SFDF Reformulation Programme, Chalmers Bakery received “hands on” practical advice from Karolina Papalexi, a 4th year nutrition student from Robert Gordon University (RGU) who completed a three-month internship with the company.

With the support of Chris Peace, SFDF's Industry Technical Manager, Karolina helped the bakery identify opportunities to reformulate some of its most popular products and extend the product range into healthier markets. The new Mediterranean vegetable pie contains 68% less fat, 71% less saturated fat and 50% less salt than a traditional scotch pie and was recently awarded the Commitment to Healthy Eating Award at the Grampian Food Forum Innovation Awards 2014.

Additional reformulation results include:

• The buttery, Chalmer's bestselling product, now contains 10% less salt and 21% less fat;
• The round shortbread base which is used for Empire biscuits now contains 17% less sugar and a reduced calorie content;
• The pie shells used for meat pies now contain 56% less salt and 30% less fat;
• The puff pastry recipe which is used for sausage rolls now contains 17% less salt and 17% less fat.
• Following successful customer trials and taste tests, the reformulated products are now being rolled-out to all Chalmer's shops and via wholesale.

Pamela Chalmers, Director, Chalmers Bakery, said: “We are always looking at opportunities to improve the healthiness of our recipes for customers without losing the taste and consistency of our much loved products. Having support from Karolina has enabled us to achieve significant fat, sugar and salt reductions across a range of recipes and we are pleased to play our part in the efforts to make products healthier for Scottish consumers.”

Karolina Papalexi said: ''I cannot stress enough how thankful I am for the opportunity to complete my placement at Chalmers Bakery in collaboration with Chris Peace and SFDF. I am very happy that the reformulated products are now into full production and that the Mediterranean vegetable pie won the Commitment to Healthy Eating Award at the Grampian Food Innovation Awards 2014. The Reformulation Programme is a great initiative which has helped me to put my theoretical knowledge into practice.''

Dr Colette Backwell, Director at SFDF, said: “Many of the UK's largest manufacturers have reformulated to great effect in recent years, making progress in areas such as salt and saturated fat reduction and the elimination of artificial trans fats. But this tool is not just the reserve of the larger players, with 37 SME producers having already benefited from the SFDF Reformulation Programme. I hope that their achievements will inspire others.”

Michael Matheson MSP, Minister for Public Health, Scottish Government, said: “I am encouraged to see the progress being made across the food industry and especially pleased to support small businesses in Scotland, through the Scottish Government funded SFDF Reformulation Programme. We are committed to improving Scotland's public health, and supporting people to eat a healthy, balanced diet is a key part of that. I'd like to encourage more businesses to get involved with reformulation work and help to make a real difference to the country's health.”