Aroundtown MEETS


ryes and sourdoughs, continental focaccia and brioche, as well as baps flavoured with beetroot and pumpkin or topped with glitter. They also produce a gluten-free range along with a luxury selection of mince pies, hot cross buns and their speciality football baps, as named as their tops resemble the hexagons on a football.


Retaining its original ethos at


deliver from Barnsley to Rotherham but, as John explains, it’s all about logistics. “A local coffee shop might order two dozen teacakes once a day whereas a Singapore customer might want a container full of goods every two months. With 2,500 bread rolls per pallet and 26 pallets per container, the overseas order translates into a hefty 65,000 bread rolls.”


Likewise, when it comes to the firm’s biggest seller, a staple white loaf, at 400 per pallet, a container full represents an order of more than 10,000.


His native dialect might be


broad Yorkshire but John also speaks French and German plus a smattering of Chinese which can only aid his sales tactics. “The international language of the world is English so there are no real communication difficulties with international trade. Plus, a lot of our deals are conducted over Skype or email,” says John.


Much more of a challenge is learning the very specific laws, customs and trading rules of individual countries but he and his team have embraced that too. “Wherever you deal in the world, the rules are different. In Germany, for example, loaves must be unenriched. Here they have to be enriched with vitamins and it’s illegal not to so straightaway it’s


entirely different.” Poppy seeds are a major concern for exports to Dubai and Singapore due to their opium content which could see a life imprisonment sentence for importing them to Dubai. Even one seed could be used to grow the drug so all export goods must be poppy seed free which involves rigorous manufacturing processes to avoid cross contamination. In Hong Kong, alcohol carries substantial duties on export goods so mince pies, for example, are baked to a different recipe at Christmas.


“There’s no end to the things you learn about places,” says John, who clearly relishes each new crumb of knowledge.


And these lessons have proved very worthwhile as Fosters’ healthy export trade has helped it to weather some economic storms in which competitors have fared less well. To move with the times,


research and product development are a major part of the Fosters ethos and a team of six people are employed to examine everything from flavour balancing to allergens and enzymes.


While still serving up the rolls, scones and split tin loaves from Emily’s heyday, today the product line also includes a variety of trendy breads such as


heart, Fosters is still very much a family affair. Heading up the technical team is John’s wife Elaine who he poached from rising rival, Warburtons. “Elaine and I met at bakery school in Manchester when we were just 16 and married at 21. She was technically very competent so I knew she was the best woman for the job here at Fosters.”


It’s a nice slice of luck that they can still work side by side. The 200-strong workforce also includes John’s cousins Mark and Ian who run the business with him, alongside a team of professional managers, while his engineer son Thomas also shares his mechanical expertise when needed. John remains just as keen to break new ground as he does to preserve some old traditions but the days when he regularly completed an 80-hour week with long tiring shifts are mostly over – with the exception of a recent trip to visit Polish bakeries which included a 5am start and a very late finish. Away from work, John has long been involved in a number of charitable causes with an emphasis on helping disadvantaged people to fulfil their potential..


Supporting and training young inmates at Doncaster prisons led to the prestigious award of an MBE in 2011 and the year previous was awarded an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University after working closely with students looking to progress into food manufacturing.


He was also seconded to Barnsley’s Work and Skills Board


which aims to increase local employment numbers and skills. He also somehow finds time to be a judge at the annual World Bread Awards.


After spending time in the heat of the industrial kitchens, John likes to cool off ringside as he is a season ticket holder at the Sheffield Steelers Ice Hockey.


But a whole new experience came in 2015 when John donned false sideburns and an old- fashioned smock to take part in the BBC2 programme, Victorian Bakers – an experience that turned out to be painfully true to life and not for the faint-hearted.


Starring alongside three other brave bakers from across the country, our Barnsley businessman experienced working life as it was in the dark days of Victorian England when workers regularly risked their lives to earn an honest crust when the average survival age of a baker was just 41 due to the health and safety barren conditions.


“It was as an extremely accurate representation of the times and we sure were tested to our limits. The gruelling tasks were exhausting, so much so I actually fell asleep while standing up and a fellow baker dozed off in a coal barrow.” For John, however, 21st century methods are definitely much more appealing and, at the age of 57, he still gets a buzz from being in the bakery.


But perhaps among his fondest memories of working life are the carefree early days of learning the ropes when his hard-earned wages of ‘two bob’ (10p) would pay for a Saturday matinee and a portion of fish and chips from Jackson’s at Mapplewell with just enough money left over to buy some sweets during the week.


What more could anyone want?


See more about Fosters Bakery on their website www.fostersbakery.co.uk


6 aroundtownmagazine.co.uk


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