Milestone celebration for Nottingham bakery Butt Foods

Specialist baker Butt Foods has marked 25 years in business with a celebration for staff, as well as the launch of a new brand.

The Nottingham-based business, which supplies a range of naan breads, flatbreads and sub rolls to the food service sector across the UK, has unveiled a new Baked Earth brand. It has also launched a new website which offers serving ideas for chefs and a special section for operators to subscribe to which will give insights into the latest bakery and food trends.

Butt Foods was founded by Mazhar Butt, who opened one of Nottingham’s first Asian restaurants in the 1970s. The idea for a bakery came after a customer failed to show up to collect a special order of naan breads and the young Mazhar found himself with more freshly-baked naan than he knew what to do with.

After wrapping them and putting them on the counter of his shop, they sold ‘like hot cakes’ and the next day customers were back for more after hearing just how good the naan were.

More than 25 years later and having introduced authentic frozen naan to the foodservice market in 1991, Butt Foods is now one of the largest naan bread suppliers in Europe and also produces a range of other speciality breads from its modern bakery at The Midway on Lenton Industrial Estate.

To mark the milestone, Mazhar Butt and his senior team hosted a party for staff at the Mogal-E-Azam restaurant in Nottingham, where Mazhar thanked the team and paid tribute to those who had helped him with investment in the early days of the business.

Managing director David Williams, who joined Butt Foods in January 1991, just after it launched, said: “It was a great evening and the chance to reflect on how Butt Foods has grown from small beginnings into one of the UK’s premier suppliers of flatbreads and other bakery products.

“The company owes much to the loyalty and skills of our team, and it was very fitting that Butt Foods’ 25^th birthday should be celebrated with a party for employees. We’re also delighted to unveil our latest brand of craft-baked flatbreads, Baked Earth, which are pretty special, and our new website which offers hints and tips on ways to use our breads, as well as an area for chefs to subscribe to for free and where they will receive key information about trends in the food service sector.”

The award-winning bakery remains family owned and prides itself on keeping abreast of trends and developing new products to satisfy consumer demand in a fast-paced industry, supplying hand-finished frozen sweet and savoury products.

Among the guests at the 25^th birthday celebrations was production manager Abdul Jabbar Khan – the longest serving employee after David Williams – who joined the business in 1992. Many other members of the team have been with the company for several years too, added David.

Each employee was given an engraved pen as a gift to mark the occasion.

For more information about Butt Foods, visit www.buttfoods.co.uk