Running from 9.30am to 4.30pm, the family-friendly trail and competition will wind through the town centre, celebrating Market Drayton’s gingerbread-making heritage. A much-loved highlight of the festival, the trail will feature imaginative gingerbread creations displayed in over 40 local businesses, many of whom are also proud sponsors of the event.

The Original Biscuit Bakers Heritage Gingerbread Trail & Contest is a free, family-friendly event forming part of the Ginger & Spice Festival 2026. Designed to celebrate Market Drayton’s rich culinary heritage, the trail invites festival-goers to explore local shops, attractions and historic sites throughout the town and judge their favourite character.

Each participating business or organisation will showcase a specially dressed gingerbread character in their window or premises, themed around “No.1 Hit from a Chart-Topping Solo Artist”, with displays appearing ahead of the festival date. Families are encouraged to follow the trail, discover all the gingerbread characters and vote for their favourite display.

The character with the most public votes will win the People’s Choice Award, with a runner-up also recognised. An additional winner and runner-up will be chosen by the Mayor of Market Drayton, Councillor Tim Manton, ensuring a fun and fair celebration for all businesses and organisations taking part.

To incentivise voting participation from the general public, a FREE prize draw will take place at the festival for all those who complete the trail form in full and correctly. There will be one winner and one runner up picked. The Winners will be announced after the festival, week commencing 28^th September 2026.  If chosen, the voting participants could win the following: A children’s gingerbread hamper.

Alongside sponsoring the trail, Original Biscuit Bakers we will be bringing a stall to the Spicy Market featuring our delicious hand-iced gingerbread biscuits, sugar cookie creations and award-winning heritage biscuit, Billington’s Gingerbread. We will also be hosting free gingerbread decorating in the Original Biscuit Bakers children’s crafting area on Queen Street throughout the day.

Gemma Williams, Managing Director of Original Biscuit Bakers, said:

“We’re delighted to support the Ginger & Spice Festival once again and to play a part in celebrating everything that makes Market Drayton so special. Sponsoring the Heritage Gingerbread Trail is a wonderful opportunity to help bring the town’s rich heritage to life and create a memorable experience for visitors of all ages.

As a local manufacturer, we’re especially proud to support an event that celebrates the food heritage, craftsmanship and community spirit at the heart of Market Drayton. The Heritage Trail continues to be one of the highlights of the festival, combining fascinating local stories, great food and interactive experiences that showcase the town’s unique character. As the festival celebrates its 10th anniversary, it’s fantastic to see it continue to grow, attracting visitors from across the region while celebrating the town’s proud culinary heritage.”

Julia Roberts, Festival Director of the Ginger & Spice Festival, said:

“We’re thrilled to welcome back the Original Biscuit Bakers as the headline sponsor of our much-loved Heritage Gingerbread Trail. Their continued support helps us celebrate Market Drayton’s unique gingerbread while creating a much-loved attraction for families and visitors. As we celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary, we’re also incredibly grateful for their support of the children’s crafting area – this year taking place on Queen Street – enabling us to offer free creative activities for the community to enjoy.”

Gingerbread Heritage Trail Maps can be picked up from the trail station on the high street being run by volunteers Jane Moore and Julie Pryce from 9.30am on Saturday 26^th September. They will also be displaying their collection of Gingerbread memorabilia that they have collected over the years.

Jane Moore and Julie Pryce said:

“We’re delighted to once again be running the Gingerbread Heritage Trail at this year’s Ginger & Spice Festival. It’s always such a joy to see so many families taking part, with children spotting the wonderful gingerbread characters in shop and business windows right across our lovely town. The whole community gets involved, which makes the trail really special. We also look forward to sharing our growing collection of Market Drayton gingerbread memorabilia on our stall –  it’s a tradition we’re proud to celebrate as an important part of our town’s heritage.”

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.

Original Biscuit Bakers, are returning as headline sponsors of this year’s Heritage Gingerbread Trail & Contest, taking place on Saturday 27th September 2025 as part of the Ginger & Spice Festival in Market Drayton.

Running from 9.30am to 4.30pm, the family-friendly trail and competition will wind through the town centre, celebrating Market Drayton’s rich gingerbread-making heritage. A much-loved highlight of the festival, the trail will feature imaginative gingerbread creations displayed in 47 local businesses – many of whom are also proud sponsors of the event.

The Original Biscuit Bakers Heritage Gingerbread Trail & Contest is a free and family-friendly event, forming part of the Ginger & Spice Festival 2025. Designed to celebrate Market Drayton’s rich culinary heritage, the trail invites festival-goers to explore local shops, attractions and historic sites throughout the town.

Each participating business or organisation will showcase a specially dressed gingerbread character in their window or premises, themed around “Characters from History.” Families are encouraged to follow the trail, discover all the gingerbread characters and vote for their favourite display.

The character with the most public votes will win the People’s Choice Award with also a runner up, while an additional winner and runner up will be chosen by the Mayor of Market Drayton, Councillor Tim Manton, and a special guest judges Nick and Carol Ford from Acton Scott Heritage Farm in Shropshire on Tuesday 23rd September 2025, ensuring a fun and fair celebration of creativity and community spirit.

To incentivise voting participation, a FREE prize draw will take place at the festival. All those who complete the trail form in full and correctly will be entered into the free prize draw. There will be one winner and one runner up in the children’s category and one winner in the adults’ category. The winners will be announced after the festival, week commencing 29th September 2025. If chosen, they could win the following:

Adult: An artisan food and drink hamper

Child: A children’s gingerbread hamper

Original Biscuit Bakers are also bringing a stall to the spicy artisan market with our delicious hand decorated and iced gingerbread biscuit creations plus heritage biscuit Billington’s Gingerbread. We will also be hosting free of charge gingerbread decorating in the Original Biscuit Bakers children’s crafting area throughout the day.

Gemma Williams, Managing Director of  Image On Food, the home of Original Biscuit Bakers and Billington’s Gingerbread, said:

“We’re proud to support the Ginger & Spice Festival once again, especially the much-loved heritage trail. It’s a brilliant family event that brings Market Drayton’s history to life through food, storytelling, and hands-on experiences. The festival continues to grow in popularity, and we’re delighted to be part of something that celebrates the town’s unique culinary roots.”

Julia Roberts, Festival Director of the Ginger & Spice Festival, said:

“We’re thrilled to once again have Original Biscuit Bakers as the headline sponsor of our much-loved Heritage Gingerbread Trail. Their support is invaluable in helping us celebrate Market Drayton’s unique heritage and bring our creative vision to life. The trail has become a firm family favourite, and this year we’re excited to see the imaginative gingerbread window displays dressed to the brilliant theme ‘Characters from history’. We are also grateful for their support of the children’s crafting area which enables us to offer free of charge activities for the community to enjoy.”

To view the list of trail sponsors please visit the website and see the heritage trail page here:

Images of the sponsors and organisations with their gingerbread character pre-decorations are here to view:

Gingerbread Heritage Trail Maps can be picked up from the trail station on the high street being run by volunteers Jane Moore and Julie Pryce from 9.30am on Saturday 27^th September. They will also be displaying their collection of Gingerbread memorabilia that they have collected over the years.

Jane Moore and Julie Pryce said:

“We’re delighted to once again be running the Gingerbread Heritage Trail at this year’s Ginger & Spice Festival. It’s always such a joy to see so many families taking part, with children spotting the wonderful gingerbread characters in shop and business windows right across our lovely town. The whole community gets involved, which makes the trail really special. We also look forward to sharing our growing collection of Market Drayton gingerbread memorabilia on our stall – it’s a tradition we’re proud to celebrate as an important part of our town’s heritage.”

We look forward to a successful community event that brings together creativity, heritage, and local pride—celebrating Market Drayton’s rich gingerbread-making tradition in a fun and meaningful way for families, businesses and visitors alike.

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