It wasn’t so much ‘Bore da’ as ‘Zdrávstvuite’ at the Jenkins Bakery HQ in Trostre, Llanelli.
The bakery rolled out the welcome mat for a delegation of 28 Russian bakery managers and owners.
The bakers, some of the most well-established and well-regarded in Russia, were visiting the UK as part of a trade mission.
“The visit was arranged by the Swansea bakery equipment manufacturer, Mono Equipment, which has long-standing links with bakery businesses in Russia,” explained the Jenkins Bakery’s operations manager Russell Jenkins.
“As an award-winning bakery business, we at Jenkins were delighted to play hosts to the Russian delegates and give them a factory tour and samples of our extensive product range.
“Some of the delegates had travelled from far-flung corners of Russian and were delighted to find that they had left temperatures of minus 14 behind at home to experience our splendid warm spring sunshine.”
Mr Jenkins said the delegates were very interested in all aspects of production at the Jenkins factory and distribution HQ.
“Fortunately, we had a couple of Russian interpreters on hand,” smiled Mr Jenkins, “so I hope they were able to grasp some of the details of our famous corned beef pasties, custard slices and Welsh cakes!
“They all seemed very impressed and were very keen to tuck into some of our products at the end of the tour.”
The delegation was accompanied by Donna Haynes, export manager at Fforestfach-based Mono Equipment.
She said: “The bakers spent some time at a trade show in Birmingham before coming to Swansea and West Wales. The mission was organised by the International Industrial Academy in Russia, whose Deputy Director has previously accompanied groups of Russian bakers to Mono.
“The purpose of the visit was to introduce the bakers to British technology and concepts.
“Judging by the feedback from the group, they seemed very impressed with the operations at the Jenkins Bakery and I am sure they will take plenty of ideas back to Russia!
