Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards 2022

Recently, the team attended the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards and were delighted to receive the Free From Award for our Chocolate Cake Bars. We are always grateful to have our efforts recognised, and being able to attend this awards ceremony in person meant a lot to the company.

The Excellence Awards help build Scotland’s reputation as a Land of Food and Drink and we are proud to be playing our part in this as a dedicated gluten, milk and egg-free site in Scotland. The mission of Lazy Day is to make great-tasting free-from and vegan treats that mean no-one should miss out on the joys of everyday life: from social occasions, to celebrations, to moments of peaceful indulgence.

Sally Beattie, Managing Director says: “Innovation has always been at the heart of what we do at Lazy Day Foods, and it is fantastic to be recognised for all our team’s hard work. We truly believe that everyone should be able to indulge in delicious, quality treats, regardless of their dietary restrictions or choices.”

Scotland Food & Drink Fortnight

Today marks the start of Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight! As the theme for this year's Fortnight is ‘Stories to Savour’ it’s the perfect time to tell our story.

Dr Sally Beattie and Emer Bustard’s exciting journey began when they met while working together as product developers at Kerry Foods. They always felt they worked well together and even went on to start a charity outside of work!

Fast forward to 2006, when Lazy Day was founded. Back then there was very little choice within the vegan and free-from market which left them increasingly frustrated at the lack of sweet treats available that catered to the free-from dietary needs of their families, so they set themselves the goal of creating a range of delicious and trusted free-from treats, with no compromise when it came to taste. They both have first-hand experience with the challenges and complexities that restricted diets bring to busy family life. Sally, along with other members of her family, has a number of food intolerances herself, including ones to dairy and gluten. Emer is a coeliac and also has a young daughter with a food allergy.  

Since launching in 2006, Lazy Day has achieved many memorable milestones. One of the company’s first big milestones was being stocked in Waitrose in 2008, the excitement that Sally and Emer felt when seeing their product on shelf for the first time in a well-known retailer continues today when Lazy Day products are seen on shelf in any store! In 2019, the company went on to win Scotland Food & Drink Business of the Year award. This was a massive achievement, to have the work of the whole team recognised meant a lot to everyone.

Lazy Day has already achieved so much so far in its journey and it’s exciting to see what the future will hold!

Salted Caramel Crispies Reveal!

It’s time to introduce our Salted Caramel Crispies! While we’ve been revealing all of our new branding and exciting new packaging designs, we’ve also been working in the background to create some tasty new treats for you to enjoy.

The Salted Caramel Crispies are a new take on an old favourite. With a crunchy base of sticky rice crispies topped with a smooth layer of caramel and covered in a generous coating of Belgian dark chocolate you won’t want to miss out on trying these!

This delicious treat can now be found on our online website and will be launching soon in Waitrose, Ocado and Booths.

Millionaire's Crispie Bites

Our Millionaire’s Crispie Bites Tub is still on offer and will be for a limited time. They’re currently £1.95 down from £2.60.

They are perfect for sharing around the office or at a picnic in the park. Make the most of this offer while it’s on and keep an eye on our newsletter and blogs to be first to hear about any offers that we have on.

Summer Days!

Summer is here (although on occasion the British weather forgets!), and what better time than to share some of the best ways to enjoy our treats!

If you’re packing up a picnic, be sure to grab some of our new packs of Rocky Road to brighten up your picnic basket.

Needing to cool down? Our Chocolate Tiffin makes a fab dessert, just add some free-from and vegan ice-cream and sauce (thank you @plant_powered_rachel for your pic) for this delicious pudding! One for the kids: the classic ‘slider’ – Chocolate Chip Shortbread ice cream sandwich…just make sure to eat it quickly before the ice cream melts!

We would love to hear about the different ways you combine our treats. Tag us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with your recipes.

Join in the Joy!

Join in the Joy!

We're really excited to launch our new look at Lazy Day, which we’re certain will put a smile on your face. 'Join in the joy,' our new brand essence, is exactly what we want you to experience when you try our delectable goodies. The only thing more joyful than sweet treats, are sweet treats that can be enjoyed by everyone!

Our co-founder Emer says, “We are so excited about the rebrand, which brings real warmth and personality to our products. We love to brighten up someone’s day with moments of peaceful indulgence. We hope that the new packaging will make people smile as much as the products inside the boxes do.”

The core belief that has always remained with Lazy Day, is that no one should need to miss out, regardless of dietary requirements, which is why we are so proud of each of our products being hand baked in our dedicated gluten, milk, egg and nut-free site.

Our founders, Sally and Emer know only too well the difficulties and disappointments that restricted diets can bring.  Before they started Lazy Day in 2006, the lack of treats that catered to the free-from dietary needs of their families, meant that joyful celebrations were often accompanied by busy days of preparation and baking.

Co-Founder, Sally says, “Lazy Day has always had a single mission – to create delectable free from treats so that everyone can ‘Join in the Joy’.   People with allergies or restricted diets often feel alienated and left out. Innovation, taste and inclusion have always been at the heart of the brand. We have lots of fantastic new products in the pipeline that we can’t wait to share.”

We truly believe that everybody deserves a ‘Lazy Day’ and to enjoy indulging in good quality treats without spending copious amounts of time in the kitchen beforehand.

Keep an eye out for our new and improved products in retailers and on our online store in the coming weeks. Our recipe improvements ensure our products are the best tasting yet whilst keeping the same free-from claims.

Let us know what you think of our new look on social media #JoinInTheJoy.

Don’t forget to tag us in any social media posts or stories with the new packaging. You could be one of the first to get your hands on it!

A Hat-trick at the Free-From Food Awards 2022

We were delighted to be celebrating three award wins at the prestigious Free From Food Awards! A Gold award for our Chocolate Chip Shortbread, Silver for our Mini Scottish Shortbread Gift Tin and a Bronze for our Chocolate Cake Bars.

The awards celebrate the best foods on the market that are free from one of the ingredients (including wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, yeast, nuts and soya) that trouble so many people with food allergies and intolerances.

The core belief underpinning Lazy Days, is that dietary requirements shouldn’t mean that you miss out on the delight of utterly delicious treats, that are trusted to be free from all the main allergens, with no compromise, so that everyone can join in the joy.  Hand baked in a dedicated gluten-free, milk-free and egg-free Scottish bakery, our treats are widely loved, which is reflected in this hat-trick of award wins!

Shona Price, Head of Marketing at Lazy Day says: “We are absolutely delighted to receive these awards and it really shows testament to the dedication that Lazy Day have shown over recent years in producing delicious treats that can be enjoyed by all. At Lazy Day, we are driven by inclusivity and the idea that everyone should be able to enjoy our range - the rapid growth of the free-from sector in recent years is demonstrating that people are turning to free-from treats, regardless of their dietary needs and we are thrilled to be able to support them. This award is confirmation that as a brand we’re continuing to gain recognition within the Free From Food and Food Service industry for our growing variety of free-from and vegan products which is fantastic news all-round.”

Trick or Treating

At Lazy Day Foods, we understand how difficult living with food allergies can be, especially for children. Halloween for many, can be one of those times of year that children with allergies can feel excluded from joining in Trick or Treating. That’s why we have created a printable poster, for you to use on Halloween night to show children that you have safe snacks that those with food allergies can enjoy. Many children often miss out on the fun of trick or treating, Lazy Day Foods sweet treats mean that you can have something to offer everyone!

We have also created a Trick or Treat Halloween Bundle on our website containing a Tiffin Bites Tub, Rocky Road Stacker, 2 Chocolate Cake Bar Boxes and 2 Cornflake Cluster Mini Bite Boxes. This bundle is perfect to have on Halloween night, with a fun mix of treats that the kids will enjoy.

Celebrate Lockdown Easing with the First Vegan and Free-From Vanilla Cake

Vegan and free-from consumers can prepare for a welcome new addition to the cake market as we launch the first vegan and free-from Vanilla Cake to the UK market in Sainsbury’s stores on 22nd May.

The launch coincides with the easing of lockdown restrictions as our customers are planning social gatherings and outdoor parties once again. Entertaining for groups of people can be challenging when it comes to catering for a range of dietary requirements. However, this cake makes the perfect accompaniment for BBQ’s, children’s parties or simply play dates as it is suitable for everyone, tastes delicious and is easy to serve.

The vanilla sponge traybake is topped with a vanilla frosting and decorated with multi-coloured sugar confetti. Available initially in-store at Sainsbury’s and direct from the Lazy Day Foods website, this fun and colourful cake is sure to be popular with children.

Emer Bustard, our co-founder says, “We are delighted to be able to add to our existing cake offering with this Vanilla Cake. The vegan and free-from consumer wants to be able to enjoy cakes in the same way that a standard consumer would. “

“There has been an upsurge in veganism in particular and for many this can make entertaining tricky with a variety of dietary requirements to cater for. We wanted to make sure that as people reunite with friends and family after lockdown that they could celebrate with a cake that truly is for everyone.”

The Vanilla cake is vegan and free from gluten, wheat, egg, milk and lactose. It addresses a wide variety of food allergy issues in one, making it suitable for coeliac, vegans, people with lactose intolerance, dairy allergies and many other conditions at once.

Lazy Day Foods prides itself on product innovation and the development team continue to be at the heart of the business. The majority of the key ingredients that would be used to make standard products are unavailable to the vegan and free-from sector. Sally Beattie, co-founder adds. “A standard cake is made with wheat flour, eggs, butter and sugar. Of these ingredients, only sugar could be used in a gluten free and vegan cake. Our development team has risen to the challenge to make an equivalent cake of the highest quality that consumers both want and deserve. We are confident that our vegan and free-from consumers will love our new vanilla cake”.

Free From Foods Awards 2020

We are delighted that TWO of our products have been shortlisted in the Free From Food Awards, these are the Truffle Trio and the Oatie Selection Tube.

The Free From Food Awards, the UK's only industry awards for free from food, were started in 2008 by the allergy website Foods Matter to encourage innovation and celebrate excellence in the free from food industry. The awards are entirely independent, supported by sponsorship and entry fees only.

The results will be drawn this week and we all hope that our products are the winners on the night.

You can buy both of these products on our online shop so you can try them yourselves and let us know what you think.

Covid-19 Statement

The impact of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) is now globally widespread and is a continuously
developing situation which we are following closely.

Continuity of supply to our customers is our priority along with the health and wellbeing of our team.  We have therefore taken steps internally to ensure production continues ensuring stock levels are kept at a higher level than standard to allow sufficient supply over the coming weeks whilst this situation is in place.

Lazy Day Foods are in contact with our ingredient suppliers, reviewing government advice on a daily basis and will follow all directives from the government.   All suppliers have been contacted and we are working closely to ensure continuity of supply of raw materials. We shall inform customers should any supply issues arise in an orderly way.

All of our finished product is manufactured, packed and stored in Scotland, UK. As a business we have taken steps to ensure all staff are informed and safe.   All business trips involving flight and rail travel have been cancelled and where possible meetings involving UK travel shall instead be video or telephone conferences. All staff returning from holiday abroad and after illness must complete a health questionnaire before returning to work. Moreover, any staff member displaying symptoms or has suspected Covid-19 has been instructed to self-isolate and contact NHS 111 for further advice.

Lazy Day Foods are committed to fulfilling all orders to customers and will continue to review the situation daily and update our statement as required.

Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards of the Year 2019

We are delighted to be celebrating after winning TWO prestigious Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards 2019.

Joint MD’s; Dr Sally Beattie and Emer Bustard won Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019 with the company being awarded Business of The Year Award 2019.

“The Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards recognise the highest quality produce as well as the leading individuals, suppliers and companies, received a record 320 entries across all categories; A tall challenge for even the very best in the market.

Now in its 20th year, the Excellence Awards 2019 focusses on the standout products driving value and consumer choice in the market in line with the overarching Ambition 2030 strategy to double the value of the industry.”