A GREENFIELD biscuit maker’s skill and products have gained national exposure after featuring on a BBC TV programme.
Mark Bedford, of Carr Lane, is a familiar site at markets around Saddleworth with his Prendi Il Biscotto range.
Now his efforts have a much bigger stage after he was joined by hosts Edith Bowman and Sean Fletcher on the programme Food Fest England.
On it, he is shown taking the pair through the process of making his culinary creations, which have proved very popular since setting up.
Now he is ready to take on an idea – which translates from Italian as Take the Biscuit – based on childhood memories of trips to Italy to the next level.
“They filmed it at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival and were with me for a good hour to an hour-and-a-half,” Mark recalled about his TV time.
“I received a message a couple of weeks before the filming to say they’d seen what I do on Instagram and could I do something with the presenters?
“They asked if I’d do some kind of demonstration, so I said I had this one particular biscuit, canestrelli, which is a sandwich biscuit I layer with lemon curd.
“It’s a really traditional recipe that dates back to the Middle Ages and was given to newlyweds at villages in the north of Italy.
“I didn’t even know who the presenters would be but it was great. They asked about the business and how I started out, as well as what we were making.
“I only started trading properly last year and I thought an opportunity like this may not come again.
“But I only got an email 72 hours before to say it was going on TV – absolutely no notice!”
Mark really is cooking up a storm with his biscuits after securing a place at seven stockists across West Yorkshire and the north west.
And after appearing on screens throughout the region, while being available nationwide on BBC iPlayer, he is set to be beamed around the country in March.
Not bad for a man who works three days a week as a painter and decorator!
But going back in time brought him to his new business, which he operates with wife Jules –
described as ‘an integral part of the operation’ – from their home.
He added: “There’s no Italian heritage in me whatsoever but my dad was a train driver and a really affordable way for parents who wanted to travel was to do so on train.
“So my mum, dad, brother and sister would travel through Europe with an end destination which was usually in Italy.
“We’d stop at different places and have a couple of hours to kill, whether it be in a city or a little village, just enough time and then we’d have a biscuit before heading to the next destination.
“I’ve always had a real love affair and passion for cooking Italian food and baking and during Covid 19 lockdown, I started.
“I’d been baking for a long time and just giving the products to friends. Everyone said, ‘You should do this as a career.’
“So we started at Christmas in 2021 at the fair at the King William IV pub in Greenfield. We sold out in a couple of hours and thought, ‘We could be on to something here.’
“I did one in Slaithwaite and the same thing happened. From there on, places have jumped on board. Now I stock in seven places.
“When I sat around the kitchen table and started to turn it into a business, I didn’t expect this – I just thought, ‘I’m going to sell some biscuits.’
“I’m still working as a painter and decorator. It’s a bit mad as people still book in and say, ‘Do you make biscuits as well? Do you want to bring some around?’
“But the passion is baking and my plan, after getting through year one, is moving into the wedding market this year, as well as getting more stockists with a view to going into it full-time.
“I’m working just out of my kitchen at home but as it grows, we’re looking at getting premises and exposure like this can only help the business grow.
“It’s beyond what I ever thought I was going to do.”
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