Image On Food: Our 2025 Round Up – A Year Baked to Perfection

What a year it’s been at Image on Food Ltd, the home of the much-loved Original Biscuit Bakers and Billington’s Gingerbread brands. As we look back over 2025, it’s safe to say the ovens were glowing, the mixers were whirring and creativity was in full swing. From record breaking biscuit production to national TV appearances, this past year gave us plenty to celebrate. 

BAKING AT FULL THROTTLE

If 2025 had a flavour, it would taste like sweet success. Over the past 52 weeks, our bakery in Market Drayton turned out an astonishing 4,738,211 biscuits – that’s 666,621 more than last year, a rise of 16.3%! In weight, that’s a mighty 272,087 kg of deliciousness.

Among the millions of biscuits heading out into the world, several creations stole the spotlight. Our Waitrose‑exclusive Panda Face and Avocado biscuits in particular led the charge, joined by the ever‑popular bespoke designs for Marks & Spencer: the Octopus and Christmas Robin. Collectively, they helped make this one of our biggest years yet.

BIG BAKES, BIGGER QUANTITIES

Behind every beautifully decorated biscuit lies an equally impressive mountain of ingredients. Our most‑used staples included icing sugar, flour and shortening — but the heart of our gingerbread heritage stayed strong too, with more than 1700 kg of ginger, 265 kg of mixed spice, 271 kg of cardamom, over 72,000 kg of icing, 70,000 kg of sugar paste, and 33 kg of Billington’s secret spice blend, bringing warmth to every batch.

In 2025 we mixed, stirred, rolled and baked:

• 138,968 kg of Gingerbread mix
• 48,618 kg of Sugar Cookie dough
• 3,270 kg of Billington’s Gingerbread

BURSTING WITH CREATIVITY

We certainly didn’t pause for breath this year, creating 89 biscuit designs — each one crafted, tested, refined and lovingly brought to life in icing. Creativity is part of our DNA, and 2025 proved there’s always room for another adorable animal, seasonal favourite or quirky character in the biscuit tin.

As for customer favourites, this year’s champion continued to be our Assorted Farmyard collection, with a huge 12,809 cases sold (that’s 153,708 biscuits) that headed to shops, garden centres, farm stores, delis and gift retailers.

Our delicious biscuits and excellent, dependable customer service also maintained our outstanding 5‑star average review rating online.

GROWING OUR FAMILY OF STOCKISTS

More people than ever wanted to stock our biscuits in 2025. We welcomed 64 new trade customers, along with two new distributors, plus one new export and corporate partner. This brought us to 252 stockists for the year – a clear reflection of the growing appetite for beautifully hand‑iced gingerbread and sugar cookies.

A SKILLED AND DEDICATED TEAM

Our team grew too, with 18 new colleagues joining our biscuit family. From bakers to decorators and other key production roles, each new recruit has helped strengthen our business as we continue to expand.

Professional development also remained a focus. Across our factory, team members achieved:

• 11 First Aid certificates
• 7 HACCP Level 3 qualifications
• 60 Level 2 Food Safety in Manufacturing certifications

This commitment to training keeps our standards high and our team confident, capable and ready for the challenges of every season.

It was also a highlight to celebrate seven team members reaching their 10‑year service milestone – a testament to their loyalty, hard work and unwavering commitment to Image on Food Ltd.

SUPPORTING CHARITIES AND THE COMMUNITY

Giving back remained central to who we are. In 2025 we raised over £3,000 for good causes and donated thousands of biscuits to charities, local events and community initiatives.

We were proud to support a wide range of causes both locally and further afield — from Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day and the Buddy Bag Foundation to the Ginger & Spice Festival, local school raffles, the Market Drayton Festival of Lights Switch On, Scouts, agricultural tractor runs, libraries, hospitals, schools and many more. Based in the home of gingerbread, community is where our roots run deepest, and this year reminded us how meaningful those connections are.

BIG MOMENTS & NATIONAL RECOGNITION

2025 brought several standout achievements:

• We featured on BBC One’s Inside the Christmas Factory, showcasing the magic behind our biscuits with Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey.
• We achieved an AA+ grade in our unannounced BRCGS audit — the highest possible result and a testament to our unwavering commitment to food safety and hygiene.
• We received a Great Taste Award for Billington’s Gingerbread, celebrating the enduring quality of our heritage recipe.
• We enjoyed fun and creative local collaborations, including sausage making with Fordhall Farm and supporting biscuit decorating with Müller.

We also partnered with fantastic businesses on social media, running unique giveaways with Shropshire Distillery, Planet Doughnut, Flower & White, Burleigh Pottery and Chococo. These moments highlighted our passion for quality, innovation and heritage – values that shape everything we do.

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

We continued to strengthen our equipment, spaces and processes across the bakery. Highlights included:

• New Team Leaders and enhanced technical support
• A bakery stamping unit and two new metal detectors
• A gravity sieving system
• Removal of the old cold store and commissioning of a new fridge
• Introduction of captive footwear and a new locker area
• 12 new decorating racks and 660 decorating trays
• A new mixer — and a third robot arriving in 2026

These investments mean we’re ready for even bigger bakes in the years ahead.

CHEERS TO AN INCREDIBLE 2025

As we look back, one thing is clear: 2025 was filled with growth, creativity and community spirit. Whether through millions of biscuits baked, partnerships formed or moments shared with our town and customers, it’s been a year we’re incredibly proud of.

Here’s to even more delicious success in 2026 — we can’t wait to show you what’s coming out of the ovens.