Genius Foods has unveiled a brand-new range of wrapped breads that are not only free from gluten but also artificial preservatives, flavourings, and emulsifiers.
The Edinburgh-based supplier revealed it spent the past three years developing the new Naturally Genius range in collaboration with TV personality, singer, and cookbook author Megan McKenna. Included in the six-strong line-up are a Tiger Bloomer and Ancient Grains & Seeds Bloomer (rsp: £3.75 each) as well as sliced loaves in varieties of Five Seeds, White, Brown, and Toastie (£3.25 each).
“I’ve been living with coeliac disease and allergies since I was a child, and I know the disappointment of buying bread that’s dry, bland or packed with artificial ingredients,” commented McKenna. “Working with Genius has given me the chance to craft something genuinely different, delicious and truly better for the community. That’s really exciting.”
The Tiger Bloomer, Five Seeds, and White loaves will launch first into Sainsbury’s on 1 September, followed by roll outs at Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose, and Ocado, including the other lines, over subsequent weeks.
Stephen Hann, CEO of Genius Foods since the start of the year, described the range launch as a new era for gluten free bakery. “We’ve listened to the coeliac and gluten free community who told us they were tired of having to compromise, fed up of Xanthan Gum or Glycerine in their bread. With this investment and innovation, we’ve created high quality, truly delicious breads without anything artificial. This is the bread the community deserves,” he said.
The new loaves are being manufactured at Genius’ gluten-free bakery in Bathgate, which saw a company-record £1m investment made last year to upgrade its bread line following an unplanned outage. This helped improve product quality and operational capacity, while funding was also spent on installing a ‘state-of-the-art’ Vemag dough depositor and advanced metal detection technology.
“We’re excited about what the investment means for our team, our customers, and the future of food innovation in Scotland,” added Hann.
To help give back to the coeliac community, Genius is donating 5p from every pack of bloomers sold over the next year to national charity Coeliac UK.
“We’re delighted to see Genius, whose products have carried our Crossed Grain Trademark for many years, continue to support the coeliac community,” expressed Hilary Croft, CEO of Coeliac UK. “Their donation will contribute to the work we do to support those who need to live gluten free, including advice, information and research.”
Earlier this month, Genius declared that it was at a turning point with a shake-up of its business putting it on the road to ending 2025 in operational profit. Most recent full-year results for 2024 revealed sales had fallen by almost a fifth compared to the previous year but it had reduced its operational loss from £3.2m in 2023 to £1.9m.
It is currently rolling out a new look designed to promote Genius as a modern, premium bakery brand whilst also boosting its presence in the sweet treats market with NPD. This includes its new Rocky Roads created in partnership with Candy Kittens, a sister brand under the portfolio of Genius’ parent company, Katjes Group.
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