Alan Clark
All articlesThird generation baker, Alan Clark, tells us the story of how his Dundee bakery, founded over 70 years ago by his grandfather, grew & evolved into the modern, 24-hour business it is today. Clark's now have 9 bakeries, one in Arbroath and 8 across Dundee, employing over 100 staff in total. They also have a butchery, providing all the meats in their baked products.
Jonathon Clark and team outside their Annfield Road Bakery
Meet the Bakers spoke with Jonathon Clark, owner of Clark's Bakery to find out more:
JC: My grandad, Ernest Earle Clark, created Clark’s in 1950 and opened the first shop on Annfield Road, Dundee. My dad, Alan Clark, enrolled on a five-year apprenticeship at Clark’s Home Bakery, as it was then called, and his father taught him everything that he needed to know.
After that my dad decided to travel. He worked as a baker in Europe and New Zealand and that’s where he got the idea to open his own bakery with an in-store shop. When he returned to Scotland, he started out on his own in 1971, at a stall in Lorne Street market, opening his first shop in Lochee. I joined the business in 1997.
Clark's Founder, Ernest Earle Clark in 1960
A key point in our history was in 1996. At this time, we used to place our loose rolls on racks by the door so they would be cooler for packing, but this didn’t work, as some passers-by would help themselves to the rolls! My dad suggested we started offering hot food – mince rolls and then bacon rolls, and the shop grew from there. This was where the 24-hour shop, our most famous shop, came from.
JC: We have a wide range of products on offer. From cakes, pies, bridies and sausage rolls to filled rolls, donuts, burgers, and much more!
MTB: Which have you found that customers can't get enough of?JC: We are famous for our helicopter burger. This has a burger, bacon, lorne sausage, fried egg, then chips on top (the helicopter bit). It was an Irish gentleman who came up with the idea for this burger. He kept on coming in after consuming one too many beers and he asked us to put this on the menu. So, we did, and it has become one of our bestselling offerings!
Our breakfast "Scooby Snacks" are big sellers. For those not in Scotland, these are made up of a hamburger, a sliced sausage, a bacon rasher and a fried egg, all contained within a floured hamburger bun and accompanied by tomato ketchup and brown sauce.
We are becoming famous for our donuts and the different flavours we sell too. The best sellers are the fudge donut and the Kinder Bueno donut.
Finally, we have the curry pie, and we won a diamond award for that!
MTB: If you had to single out one Clark's Signature product, what would it be?JC: We are well known for our Devon slice, this is layers of sweet puff pastry, fresh cream, jam and icing on the top. It’s very hard to eat but it is delicious.
JC: We have the new Baba pie. This is filled with kebab meat, baba sauce, with cheese on top- we won a Scottish Bakers award for that.
We also have a new donut range coming out and we are trying every month to come up with a new donut flavour.
Jonathon and Clark's BAKO Account Manager, Paul Jenkins
JC: Staff. It is so hard to get staff, so that is our biggest problem right now. Trying to find people to employ.
In the past year the rising cost of ingredients and electricity has affected us, like everyone else. However we are sticking with the same recipes, and we aren’t cutting corners, or reducing the size. We see across the board that many bakers are cutting product size or changing ingredients, but we made the decision not to do that.
JC: It’s great! They are very supportive; we have a really good account manager and they are a big help across the business.
JC: For me the biggest opportunity is to move with the times. I would say, see what’s going on in the world, e.g., the rising popularity of vegan products, and healthier products and change with the times, as there are so many opportunities.
We sell more vegan products and provide healthy options, and they sell really well, especially in our shops close to student hubs for example.
Every one of our shops has a salad bar, nothing is premade and it’s all made to order in front of you. Don’t get me wrong, people still want their chips as we are in Scotland after all, and it rains all the time, so people generally want foods that pick them up in the day and to fill them up!
LR: Yes, we are. We have a full-time member of the team who looks after all of our social media platforms. Since he came on board, we do 2/3 posts a week across Facebook and Instagram. We promote both the bakery and our butchery through social media.
When we highlight our products online they sell better. It gets people coming in and when they arrive, they try a range of our products, not usually just the one thing they saw on social media. So, it’s a great sale tool for us.
MTB: What advice would you give to bakers starting up today?LR: It’s long hours and hard work but remember to innovate. The main thing is innovation. Look at what other people do and see if you can make it better! Move with the times.
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