Breaducation

A look inside a flour mill

From the wheat grown in the field by the farmer to the flour milled by the millers and on to the bakery, finally bringing your sliced pan home to your kitchen, the journey your bread makes is a traditional one. Over the years, the flour millers have worked very hard to ensure continued availability of top quality wheat flour to both consumers and bakers.

What is Sensory Analysis?

There are some smells that most people really love -bacon frying, lavender or fresh sea air. Everyone loves the smell of bread while it’s baking and of a freshly baked loaf

Food Trends

Food fads come and go, but others are an indication of something more persistent, a trend rather than a fad. Some food trends are connected to a wider picture, such as climate change and climate action and the importance of sustainable production within that context. Connected to this then are global supply chains, the availability of ingredients and food security

White Bread x Gen Z

Let’s talk about white bread, the literal main character of the carb world. If you’re out here sleeping on white bread, it’s time for a wake-up call because this iconic staple is lowkey unmatched. It’s giving comfort food realness, and honestly? That’s the vibe we all need.

White Bread is a Plant-based food

It is estimated that 10% of the population in Ireland and the UK is either vegan (approx. 3%) or vegetarian (about 7%) for either animal rights or environmental reasons. Alongside that are the flexitarians, people who might eat vegan or vegetarian a couple of days a week or so.

The Ingredients We Use In Making Our Bread

People often ask about the ingredients that we use in making our sliced pans, what they are and why they’re all needed?

Food Reformulation – the good news for white bread!

You may or may not have heard the term “reformulation” when it comes to food. What it means is that the recipe is adjusted or ingredients changed in the food to make it more nutritious, by reducing calories and some specific nutrients.

AI, NPD and other TLAs!

What is AI and what has it got to do with my sliced pan?!

Kids Need Carbs

To fuel an active healthy lifestyle, children and teenagers need carbohydrates for energy and growth

Food and its relationship with Social Media

If you were to google the definition of the phrase “social media influencer” You would find something like “Social media influencers are digital creators with expertise in a specific niche”.

The Truth about Bread

There is a lot of talk about what is and is not good for you. Bread is a staple of the Irish diet and as such it is an important food that most people happily eat every day.

Healthy Heroes School of the Month

Encouraging children to eat healthily isn’t always the easiest of tasks, as any parent of school-goers will tell you. 

Bread and its role in the Circular Economy

Many people will have heard the term “circular economy” being used recently. But what does that mean exactly? 

Bread in Stories

How many children’s books and stories do we know that feature bread in them? How many books are based in bakeries?

The evolution of bread

In 2018, archaeologists found the crumbs of what is believed to be flatbread around a fireplace at a Natufian hunter-gatherer site called Shubayqa, located in north eastern Jordan. It’s believed to be around 14,400 years old. After analysis, the bread was discovered to be made from wild cereals like barley, einkorn and oats.

We’ve got the Dough!

While energy and ingredients costs rise, our bakers know that bread is a very important part of Irish people’s diet and so must remain affordable, which, thankfully, it is. Research has found that lunchtime is when most Irish people eat bread (70%). Over half (51%) start their day with it at breakfast, with one in five loving some bread with their evening meal.

Bread as a source of protein

There is a lot of talk about protein these days, but why is protein important in our diets and not just for super keep-fit gym bunnies?

Let’s Look at Labels

Food labelling continues to confuse people when, in fact, it should enlighten them about their food choices! The whole point of food labels is to provide information without causing confusion. Under EU law, all wrapped foods are required to feature a label on the wrapper that clearly tells you the list of ingredients, the nutritional information, the storage instructions, the weight or volume of the food, cooking instructions if relevant and more.

Waste no Bread this Christmas – not even a crumb!

Prevention of food waste is a hot topic, and one that will be on our radar for years to come, no doubt. We’ve talked about sustainability before, and the steps our bakers take to constantly implement sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices.

Bread in the Movies

A quick search on IMDb tells us that there are over 200 movies or TV shows that refer to Bread! The range is broad and varied to say the least.

No Crumb Left behind!

There are many familiar phrases to do with waste – old ones like “Waste Not, Want Not”, “One man’s waste is another man’s treasure”, or “Waste is Only waste if we Waste it” (Will.I.Am !), but all have the same meaning more or less. Protect our resources, don’t throw away money, reuse things or put them to alternative uses.

Bread in Song

Some readers might be old enough to remember the American band “Bread” who hailed from Los Angeles in California. It’s certainly an unusual name for a rock band, but the story goes that on the night they were trying to come up with a name for the band, a bread truck passed by (very early in the morning in fact), and it struck a chord (excuse the pun!).

Bread & Sustainability

Sustainability is definitely the buzzword of the moment. Sustainable fashion, sustainable business, sustainable food, sustainable travel. As more and more people are buying electric vehicles in Ireland, some people might think that this is a new phenomenon.

Irish Pride – it’s a matter of pride

Irish Pride has its bakery in Taghmon, Co.Wexford and records show that the first bakery there was set up in 1878. The bakery began as a collaboration of family bakers in 1989 who came together in the spirit of collaboration, and has grown from strength to strength since then.

Bread as part of a healthy lifestyle

Every year in January, people start getting active again after Christmas and try to burn off the excesses of the festive period. We join gyms, we start walking, and we look at our diets to make sure we’re eating all the right things. The basics of a balanced diet never change though, and one of elements – carbohydrates – is really essential to maintain our bodies so we can function properly.

Today’s Bread Today!

When you hear the ads on the radio for Brennan’s Bread, it’s the voice of Old Mr. Brennan, and you might think it’s just an actor. However, there actually is an Old Mr. Brennan!

All about Flour

Wheat is the grain from which most flour is made. Wheat millers use their knowledge and skills to blend different varieties together so that the flour is produced to the exact specification required

Bread Innovations

Bread has been made pretty much in the same way for hundreds of years. From humble beginnings in the kitchen, the large scale baking of bread was developed so that bakeries could supply a growing number of customers far & wide.

Winter Warmers the Toasted Sandwich

Now that Winter has firmly taken hold, one thing everyone wants is nutritious, delicious food that will warm us up. 

Bread for Christmas

Sustainability and ways to prevent wasting any bread is a frequent topic for us. Christmas is a time of year when we frequently stock up on extra food in anticipation of hosting family and friends during the festive period

Johnston Mooney & O’Brien - There’s History in the Baking

The first Bakers’ Guild charter in Ireland was granted in 1478 by King Edward IV, from which arose (no pun intended!) many Bakers’ Guilds or Societies in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland.

How much sugar is there in my sliced pan?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again - a balanced diet is essential for health. We all know that it’s important to watch how much sugar we eat. The good news is that there is no added sugar in your sliced white bread.

Poetry is like Bread

On our earth, before writing was invented, before the printing press was invented, poetry flourished. That is why we know that poetry is like bread; it should be shared by all, by scholars and by peasants, by all our vast, incredible, extraordinary family of humanity.

From the farmer to the shopkeeper – from wheat to loaf

From the in the field grown in the field by the farmer to the bakery, to bringing your sliced pan home to your kitchen, let us tell you about the journey your bread travels to get into your sandwich.

Bread in Art

We know that bread was first made by the ancient Egyptians as far back as the year 8000BC when grains, cultivated on the fertile banks of the River Nile were ground by hand to make flat bread

Pat the Baker - So fresh it's famous!

In 1953, Pat Higgins from Mayo arrived in Granard, Co. Longford and first set up a bakery in the back of his home serving the local community. Over the years, the business grew and Pat the Baker became known across the county and in 1977 the bakery moved to new, larger premises in its hometown.

Food Allergies - What are they?

Food allergies have been a hot topic of conversation now for many years. There can be a lot of misinformation circulating, especially on social media, so here at the IBBA we thought it might be useful to clarify a few things.

The chemistry of bread

While baking bread may appear to be a very simple process, there is actually a lot of science in how the four basic ingredients interact.

Nutritional Analysis

When you look at the Nutritional Labelling on the packaged foods you buy, you’ll see a panel showing the energy values and various levels of fat, carbohydrate, protein and so on. Have you ever wondered how this is all worked out?

The Irish Love Affair With Bread

The love of bread in Ireland goes back centuries, and the oldest record of bread in Ireland is a flat bread which dates back to the Stone Age.

Why does bread smell so good?!

Everyone loves the smell of bread while it’s baking and of a freshly baked loaf. We all know that bread is a staple food, and a great source of nutrition growing up and indeed throughout our adult lives. 

Bread slang

Why is it that the word “bread” is so often used as a slang term to mean either general sustenance or as a synonym for money?

Fortification

The fortification of foods has been around for a long time. Simply put, it means that vitamins and minerals are added to prepared foods to boost their nutritional content. Consumers are familiar with the fortification of breakfast cereal and milk, but perhaps are not so familiar with fortification of flour or bread.

Bread and salt

By now, we all know that a balanced diet is essential for health. Everything in moderation and a little of what you fancy! We also know that it’s important to watch how much salt we eat.