Premier Foods poses the biggest challenge for any manufacturer operating in the cake category. The company, which owns the Mr Kipling brand, the licence to produce Cadbury-branded cakes and, following its purchase of RHM, 15 of the UK's top 20 bestselling cakes brands, has a portfolio of products worth more than £150m in retail sales.
The Cake Bake Company's products have a more traditional positioning than the bulk of Premier's brands, so the products it will typically go up against include lines such as its Mr Kipling Bakewell slices, lemon slices, apple pies and Battenburg cake.
However, they will face equally strong competition comes from the smaller players that produce more traditional lines.
Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate, whose cakes are sold as slabs, is one of The Cake Bake Company's major competitors. The company targets a similar market and its products include a tea loaf as well as marmalade and ginger cakes under its Yorkshire Tea brand. In March it also launched a chocolate & orange cake into Waitrose.
McCambridge's Soreen malt loaf, currently the UK's third-biggest selling cake brand, is another rival. The product, which also comes in a slab format, grew 30% in value in the year to October 2007 to £14.5m.
Despite the competition, the lack of advertising by these companies means The Cake Bake Company is in a fairly strong position. Neither Premier Foods, United Biscuits nor McCambridge have run high-profile TV campaigns for their cake brands over the past 12 months.
Founder Sharon Goodyer says she has no marketing budget but believes the company's links with the Skoda advert generated more of a marketing buzz for the company than its larger rivals have managed. "The advert was a great thing for us to be part of," she says, "and has really helped people get to know about the business."
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