Mungoswells Malt & Milling was crowned the winner of the Tiptree World Bread Awards Heroes, in a special online awards evening on Tuesday 13 October.
Mungoswells Malt & Milling is a small-scale arable farm and mill north of Haddington, East Lothian.
Their flour is grown, harvested, milled and packaged all within five miles. Mungoswells were putting in 14 hour shifts to meet the unprecedented flour demand seen during the coronavirus pandemic.
"They have grafted non-stop throughout lockdown to supply their loyal community, meaning the shelves of our high street greengrocers and wholefoods shops were never empty," said one of their nominators, Hannah Ewan.
"It is in large part due to their unceasing hard work that we didn't have the shortages seen in so many places."
Justin Savage, the baker behind Beefcake Cafe, Glasgow, was declared runner up for Scotland.
Justin kept his local community supplied with fresh bread and other baked goods throughout lockdown.
In addition, he assisted the efforts of the Starchild charity by producing a video introduction to sourdough starters in return for voluntary donations.
In normal times, the awards celebrate the bread; hundreds of loaves would be delivered for assessment by a panel of esteemed judges.
Instead, in a special edition for 2020, the awards recognise the people behind the loaves: the bakers, millers and farmers.
Hundreds of nominations for the Bread Heroes were sent in from across the UK.
Stephen Hallam, chairman of the judges said: "All the nominees in this year’s Awards truly deserve recognition for their generous, considerate and often altruistic initiatives to help others."
12 regional winners were selected by the judging panel.
One of the judges, Emma Freud, executive producer Comic Relief, said: ‘These nominees were so well found - each of them have done remarkable things for their communities, using their talent with bread to make life easier for people who need support.
"It was a seriously tough choice, but I am confident we got the right winners."
"The efforts of the bread community during these challenging times have been truly inspiring," added Scott Goodfellow, joint managing director, Tiptree.
"We are delighted that this year’s Awards have been able to shine a light on their incredible endeavours."
An exhibition of portraits by photographer Henry Kenyon of the 12 Bread Heroes will be touring the UK, including a display at the City Food Lecture 2021, the annual lecture on the future of the food industry, organised by the seven food-related City of London livery companies.
Read all the winners Bread Hero stories in more detail here.
