True love and true loaf, top prizes go to Edinburgh and the Lothians in Valentine’s Day judging

Supreme Champion: Sourdough Loaf, Seamus Macleod of Selkie Bakery, Edinburgh

The one and only of its kind, The Scottish Bread Championship, sponsored by The Edinburgh Bakers Trust Scottish Food Guide and Scotland The Bread brings together Real Bread makers from across the nation. 2025 saw a record number of 210 entries delivered to Bowhouse in Fife on Valentine’s Day. True love or perhaps True Loaf? This year’s Supreme Champion is Selkie Bakery, a micro bakery in Leith, with Reserve Champion, Dunbar Community Bakery, owned by the community and run for the benefit of the community in East Lothian.

Bakers have been planning and experimenting for weeks. Some enter their favourite family loaf; others see the Championship as a sounding board, welcoming the judges’ feedback on their latest creations. This Championship is unique to Scotland: from its Real Bread criteria and rigorous judging, to its comprehensive marking and individual written feedback.

Reserve Champion: 100% Rye Loaf with Coriander & Sunflower Seeds, Dunbar Community Bakery

This year’s entries certainly kept the excellent team of dedicated judges on their toes.

This year’s team, giving freely of their time, were:
Ameena Mur, of Jeju Baked Goods, Glasgow
Chris Young, Real Bread Campaign Co-ordinator
Jennie Macdiarmid, Aberdeen University
Lynne Halfpenny, Boxmaster of the Incorporation of Baxters
Morven Hastie, former restaurateur and cookery presenter
Neil Forbes, Chef Director Café St Honoré, Edinburgh
Professor Nicola Holden, SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College)
Pat Jones, Deacon of the Incorporation of Baxters & Trustee of The Edinburgh Bakers Trust (Main Sponsor)
Paul Hooper, Honorary Treasurer, Bread for Good Community Benefit Society (Scotland The Bread )
Pete Ritchie, Executive Director, Nourish
Professor Wendy Russell, Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen
Walter Mowat, Slow Food Scotland

Judging took place all Friday, with Winners announced at the Scottish Festival of Real Bread on Saturday February 15th. With eight classes ranging from Classic Sourdoughs to imaginative pastries showcasing our diverse food cultures, the judges sampled sourdoughs and yeasted additive-free creations celebrating Scottish grains with recipes reflecting Scottish, Italian, Hungarian, German and Scandi influences. So many skills under one roof and recognition for artisan bakers.

Wendy Barrie says, “With a record number of entries, the judges were terrific: full of energy and praise for the bakers’ skills. The enthusiasm of the bakers is heart-warming and a timely reminder of the importance of our food heritage, skills and food security. We have no public funding and are indebted to The Edinburgh Bakers Trust for their unstinting support of this important event in Scotland’s food scene.”

The Scottish Bread Championship was co-founded in 2017 and run by Wendy Barrie and Andrew Whitley, Scottish Food Guide and Scotland The Bread respectively, and also sponsored by The Edinburgh Bakers Trust since 2022.

For further information/additional photos contact wendy@wendybarrie.co.uk Mob: 07802 426205