Baking is the secret ingredient for Happiness as our Head baker Avril Glass wins All Ireland Professional Baker of the Year at IFEX 2024

Naturally we think that our bakers, headed up by Avril Glass are exceptional. Well now, so do the judges at IFEX 2024 who awarded our Head Baker, Avril Glass the Salon Culinaire ‘All Ireland Professional Baker of The Year’. As well as the many awards Avril has won in the past, yet again, she proved she is the best in the business.

IFEX is Northern Ireland’s Premier Food and Drink showcase and returned again in 2024 to the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast earlier this month.

The All Ireland Professional Baker of The Year ‘Tim Andrew Trophy’ sponsored by Andrew Ingredients allowed competitors 4 hours to prepare, bake and present bakery products of their choice. Competitors had to show as many baking skills as possible during the gruelling 4 hour competition and after judging was complete, Avril was delighted to win this prestigious award. Avril also won the gold medal with this award, which is only given on occasion to those that achieve 90% plus in the competition as she scored near perfect marks.

Richard Fry, Coleman’s Garden Centre commented: “Winning the award means a lot to Avril because I know she prides herself on wanting to deliver the best bakery products she can for our customers. Winning this award is one of the biggest moments in her career so far, and a real honour. Avril was competing against some very talented and experienced bakers in an award that every baker wants to win and her success is well deserved. We are all so very proud of Avril and everyone here knows that she never fails to deliver every day for Colemans. Her dedication and attitude to her work is faultless and her creativity is amazing as she continues to adapt and learn new bakery trends and methods, introducing them to her work and training her valued team.”