WHEN Theo Farquharson opened the unusually named The Hedgehog Bakery, in Staindrop, 18 months ago the aim was to tickle the tastebuds of festivalgoers across the region with their own brand of sweet-inspired cake treats.
And while they were kept busy last season with about three events a week, when the coronavirus lockdown kicked in two months ago the calendar suddenly emptied.
However, Mr Farquharson and his wife Emily have been “busier than ever” with their online treat boxes being an instant hit with customers up and down the country.
He said: “We have always run a postal service with our treat boxes, but now it’s completely contact free and we are sending them all over the place. They’ve gone as far at Scotland, Devon and Somerset.”
The boxes include a mouth-watering mix of homemade artisan cakes such as Battenburg blondies, brownies and flapjack.
Mr Farquharson added: “The support that we have had has been fantastic. when we first started out we were only really doing blondies and brownies but we’ve added a few things into the mix like rocky-roads and flapjack and the boxes will have a couple of new additions.”
Keeping up with demand has seen the couple working longer hours baking and delivering throughout Teesdale to the many old and new customers.
He said: "We just had to adapt and to say that April was our busiest month to date is saying something even during the lockdown.
"We are looking to expand into Scotland as my sister-in-law Rachel is in Glasgow but things are on hold at the moment because of the situation."
The treat boxes contain up to six slices of sugary delights and are available to purchase each Thursday. But customers have to be quick as some sell out within minutes.
All products are listed on The Hedgehog Bakery's website at thehedgehogbakery .bigcartel.com.
