Food and drink news for the discerning consumer
Friday, 6 November 2026
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Thursday, 5 November 2026
Bunta Beer launches glass bottles at The Pem
The 330ml bottles made their exclusive debut at The Pem, chef Romy Gill MBE’s restaurant at the five-star Conrad London St. James.
The launch marks a fresh step for Bunta as it looks to become part of more modern dining experiences.
Founded in 2025 by New Delhi-born entrepreneur Gunikka Ahuja, Bunta was created to complement Indian food. Its flagship lager has a light, crisp character, with citrus notes from orange peel and subtle coriander from coriander seed. At 0.5% ABV, it offers a lower-alcohol option, and is also gluten-free and vegan.
The beer itself hasn't changed. Instead, the new bottle format is designed to give it a more considered presentation at the table, where drinks can be given as much attention as the food. Ahuja hopes bottles will eventually account for half of the business.
Bunta now has over 100 listings across the UK, including restaurants, pubs, hospitality venues and specialist retailers. Distribution is supported by Champers Drinks.
Gill first discovered Bunta at a Diwali event last year. She says supporting smaller producers is important to her, particularly as she built her own career without established industry connections. She felt the beer was a natural match for The Pem’s contemporary Indian cooking.
The two women share Sikh heritage and a love of food, family and bringing people together around the table. When the opportunity arose to launch Bunta at the restaurant, Ahuja fast-tracked production of the glass bottles so they would be ready for the debut.
The bottle artwork features Ahuja’s brother, who also appears on the original can design. This time, he is shown relaxing with a beer after work.
For Ahuja, the new format is about making sure choosing a lower-alcohol drink does not mean compromising on flavour or the dining experience. The launch at The Pem is a first step in her plans to take Bunta beyond the traditional curry house and into more premium settings.
Restaurants, hotels, bars and other hospitality businesses can enquire about stocking the bottles through Bunta Beer or Champers Wholesale.
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Four Bakery Trends to Watch in 2027
The free-from bakery brand is made by Cumbrian family baker Bells of Lazonby.
Its team has identified four trends that are influencing its plans for future products.
Danny Parsons, Senior Concept Developer at Bells of Lazonby, told That's Food and Drink thats people still want cake, but their expectations around how and when they eat it are changing.
The challenge, he said, is to respond to those changes while keeping the enjoyment of cake at the heart of the experience.
1. Smaller portions for changing appetites
The growing use of GLP-1 weight-loss medicines could influence how some households buy cake. If one person wants a smaller portion or eats cake less often, a large cake for sharing may be less practical.
We Love Cake believes this could increase interest in individual slices and single-serve formats. These give people more control over portion size, while making it easier to enjoy a treat without buying a whole cake.
The idea is not to take the indulgence out of cake. With smaller portions, flavour, texture and quality may matter even more.
2. More attention to ingredients
Shoppers are paying closer attention to what goes into their food, bringing cleaner labels and recipe choices higher up the development agenda.
For free-from baking, this can be technically challenging. Ingredients often play an important role in recreating the taste and texture usually provided by gluten. The aim is to make meaningful changes without compromising quality, consistency or shelf life.
Ingredient sourcing, processing and sustainability are also becoming part of how consumers assess a product.
3. Childhood flavours return
While health considerations may shape some product choices, familiar flavours can offer comfort and an easier decision in a crowded bakery aisle.
Rhubarb and custard, birthday cake, Angel Delight-inspired flavours, traditional puddings and sweet-shop favourites are among the ideas We Love Cake expects to see influence new products.
The opportunity is to refresh these much-loved flavours for today’s shoppers, rather than simply reproduce a retro product.
4. Free-from goes mainstream
Free-from bakery is increasingly expected to match conventional products for taste, texture and quality. The next step, We Love Cake believes, is making it available in more everyday settings.
Food-to-go, convenience stores and food service could all provide opportunities to reach consumers beyond the dedicated free-from fixture. Individually portioned cake slices already offer a portable option for people looking for a convenient treat.
Together, these trends point towards smaller portions, more considered recipes and familiar flavours in new formats. Parsons describes the direction as “less, but better” cake that evolves with consumers while keeping the pleasure of eating it.
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Saturday, 31 October 2026
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Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Denmark moves to outlaw ‘frankenchickens’ as UK faces calls to act
If adopted, the ban would make Denmark the first country in the world to prohibit these breeds, which campaigners call “frankenchickens.”
The birds are selectively bred to reach slaughter weight in around 35 days.
Their bodies can grow faster than their legs and organs can cope, leaving many with painful leg disorders, difficulty walking and an increased risk of heart failure.
UK animal welfare charities have welcomed Denmark’s move and criticised the lack of progress at home. Anima chief executive Connor Jackson said: “Frankenchickens endure extreme suffering on a daily basis, and Denmark is showing the world what’s possible when politicians take that seriously. For years the UK has utterly failed these birds, leaving them to collapse in agony by the millions.”
In the UK, Waitrose phased out fast-growing chickens in 2025, while Marks & Spencer removed them from its own-brand fresh chicken range in 2024. However, nine in ten chickens eaten in Britain still come from fast-growing breeds.
Jackson said giving chickens more space was positive, but did not address the problems caused by breeding them to grow at an extreme rate. He called on the Government to ban fast-growing breeds from public procurement, including food served in schools and hospitals, and urged major food businesses to honour their commitments.
“In Britain we have made efforts to give chickens more space, which is positive. But we’re still breeding these birds far beyond what their bodies can cope with,” he told That's Food and Drink.
“As a first step, we need to see the Government ban frankenchickens in public procurement, and for major companies like KFC and Pret to keep their promises and switch to higher welfare breeds like they said they would. Nothing is stopping us from following Denmark and Norway’s example.”
Anima and other animal welfare charities, including the RSPCA, have written to Defra asking it to use existing powers to exclude fast-growing chickens from public-sector food contracts. Labour’s 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy committed to promoting a transition away from fast-growing broiler breeds.
KFC and Pret have faced criticism over commitments to stop using fast-growing breeds by 2026. Campaigners say the Danish announcement should prompt UK politicians, producers and retailers to speed up the transition to healthier, higher-welfare chickens.
Le Loaf Cake from Bonne Maman
Le Loaf Cake comes as one whole 500g cake and is a classic cut-and-come-again household staple, perfect for those moments of reaching into the cupboard in search of something quick and delicious for all the family.
Like all Bonne Maman products Loaf Cake contains no additional preservatives, colourings or artificial flavours; it's perfect with a cup of tea or coffee and pretty good with a scoop of ice cream as well.
The new Bonne Maman Le Loaf Cake is initially available exclusively at Tesco stores nationwide with rrp £4.50.
For further information, tips and recipes see www.bonnemaman.co.uk
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