Kudos Blends is celebrating its 25th year! We sat down with our founder and managing director, Dinnie Jordan, to look back on this fantastic achievement and how she formed the business we have today.
Dinnie, what inspired you to set up Kudos Blends?
I just wanted to offer bakeries a baking powders that could sort out some of their technical challenges. I previously worked for the chemical company Albright and Wilson where I had a fantastic introduction to working life but they were, however, what is known as ‘back integrated.’ They had superb knowledge about the production of phosphates and everything to do with phosphoric acid, but it became problematic for me as they did not understand the requirements of the baking industry.
Often, I would go to see our customers to carry out trials using their baking powders but the products simply didn’t work. Albright and Wilson had no facilities for test baking and sometimes I had to go to my parent’s house to use my mum’s food mixer and oven to carry out test bakes. I found it extremely frustrating when the trials failed at my customer’s bakery. I needed to do something to be able to assist the bakeries that I was collaborating with to support them in their issues and endeavour to try and find solutions through baking powder technology.
How old were you when you set the business up?
I set up Kudos Blends when I was 30 years old. Looking back, I think how on earth did I do that? I had very little knowledge about anything at all, having had only a technical sales background. I did not know about sales, pricing, marketing, operations or anything about health and safety.
What did it feel like in the early days?
Absolutely terrifying! I had come from a company where I had a regular monthly income and life was easy, with lots of support from my colleagues at Albright and Wilson. Suddenly I had to discover and learn things I didn’t know anything about. It was truly challenging; however, what I did like, was the fact that I had more time to ride my horses! In the early days of Kudos Blends, I spent a lot of time eventing my horses all around the country to quite a high level.
What support did you have at the time?
My two shareholders were just simply superb. Both of them supported me in so many different ways. Graeme Kelly has a PhD in chemistry. He’s a man of extreme detail and is exceptionally clever with a huge knowledge of chemistry. My other shareholder is Steve Stilliard; he was incredibly kind in letting me work from his house, often coming home at lunchtime to make sure I was okay when I was having a little bit of a wobble! As an emotional support, there was nobody better than Steve, he was always there for me and always gave me a boost. My parents lived on the other side of the country but they were always interested in my progression with the business, and very much hoped that I would succeed.
Did you ever feel like giving up?
Yes, I did think I was going to give up. After 18 months, I really couldn’t see prospects of sales coming in. I had completed consultancy work for two phosphate companies, but it was very hard to get Kudos Blends off the ground. On one particular day, I finally decided it was time to call it a day. I wrote a letter to each of my shareholders and said, “Thank you so much for all your support, I really do appreciate everything. It is now time for me to give up. I can see no prospect of sales, and I have depleted my funds. It’s time to get a day job.” Me being me, I forgot to get stamps to post the letter. It’s a good job, as a few days later I had my first order for a pallet of baking powder from Allied Bakeries and the rest is history. This was the real starting point for Kudos Blends!
What was your original vision and why?
My first vision was and still is, to be “the leading supplier of technically driven baking powders.” My shareholder, Steve Stilliard, was very adamant that I must have a clear vision. Steve does a lot of what I call finger-wagging, and he finger-wagged at me and said, “You must have a vision.” So, together, over a glass of champagne in his garden, we came up with the vision, which has stood me in good stead ever since. It has enabled us to remain focused on what we are great at and become extremely knowledgeable in our field.
What was your first milestone?
I think there have been many milestones. Firstly, I wanted to achieve 100 tonnes of sales but I think my first major milestone was when the annual turnover of Kudos Blends reached £1 million. I wasn’t always good at sharing success with my family, but I do remember on this occasion excitedly ringing my sister and brother-in-law to tell them that we had achieved this particular milestone!
When did you begin manufacturing in-house?
When I first set up the business, we wanted to mitigate the financial risk, and therefore outsourced our manufacturing. In 2006, on the industrial estate where we still are today, a large industrial unit came up for rent opposite to where our offices were. With annual sales at 1000mt, I felt the time had come to take the leap and begin production ourselves. We needed to take control of our contract manufacturer so that we could deliver the service that our customers expected and deserved. One of our values was to deliver a professional, reactive and speedy service to our customers and bringing the manufacturer in-house in 2006 enabled us to do just that.
What were your challenges when you began production in-house?
The challenges were immense. I knew nothing about employing factory personnel, health and safety or operating instructions, so it was a huge challenge bringing production in-house. My shareholder, Graeme Kelly, had extensive experience working in production and was immensely helpful. I soon discovered though how little I knew and that I needed to learn extremely fast!
When did you begin exporting?
We began exporting in 2011. This was following the development and manufacture of KODA™ potassium bicarbonate. Having brought manufacturing in-house, we then felt ready to offer our new, patented, bakery specific grade of potassium bicarbonate to worldwide bakeries. We headed to the Institute of Food Technologists in New Orleans to exhibit at our first international conference.
You entered and won the Queen’s Award for Export – tell me about that.
The Queen’s Award entry was all down to my mother. One day she said to me, “why don’t you enter for the Queen’s Award for Export?” I thought she was a bit silly, and thought it was overly ambitious. We did, however, put in an application and in due course, received an email to say that we’d been shortlisted. I was delighted to learn that we’d won The Queen’s Award for Export and was very sad that my mother was not around to see us go to Buckingham Palace to receive the award from the Queen. As I walked through Green Park in my frock, with my husband on my arm, towards Buckingham Palace, I waved a thank you to my mother in heaven. Thanks, Mum, for encouraging me to apply for this award.
What other occasions have you celebrated over the years?
We’ve had a lot of celebrations over the years, as I love a good party! We had our 10th anniversary party at Brockencote Hall, where we’re also going to have our 25th anniversary celebration. Furthermore, we celebrated the opening of our mill line and new manufacturing units in 2000 and 2011. There’s so much to celebrate and parties and events are a great way to keep staff motivated.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced?
My biggest challenge has been recruitment. We are based in a very rural area so the catchment area is small. I must admit that I’m not the best at reading people, and I instantly like everyone I meet. For this reason, during my early days of recruitment, I was not wholly successful. Today I have a team of people to help me through the process, and we all have different opinions and ideas about the people that we meet. This has helped to secure the great team that I have around me today.
What do you enjoy the most about your job?
My background is in chemistry, so I do love the chemistry aspect of the business. That said, more recently, I’ve been involved in the operations side. I’m very much my father’s daughter and love getting my hands dirty, so for me, the engineering side is extremely interesting. There’s so much to the business that I enjoy! I particularly, of course, love eating all the cakes the test bakery produces!
How do you think running the business has affected your personal life?
It has certainly affected my personal life. I get quite tired as I spend a lot of time with my colleagues during the working week. I take my work home in my head, I can’t help it. I have the most creative ideas when I’m riding my horse and I’m out in the countryside. Naturally, it affects my relationship with my husband, and sometimes I have to remember to try to switch off.
When did your husband join the company and what does he do?
I convinced my husband to leave his job working as a computer programmer for Coots Bank in Birmingham in 2010. He joined us to write a bespoke back-office software system. Starting from scratch, we now have a fantastic system which is the envy of many of our customers and suppliers. My husband is a very clever computer programmer and he also looks after all the software and hardware within the business.
How do you feel about the business right now?
I love it! I have such a superb team around me. They’re all so cheerful and happy; and everybody knows the direction of travel. It’s a great place to be, and I love going to work in the morning.
Did you have personal ambition in regards to the products Kudos Blends sells?
I’m very pleased to have developed our KODA™ potassium bicarbonate for the bakery market. The contribution that we can make to reducing issues surrounding cardiovascular health makes me very happy indeed. More recently, the solutions that ZEUS™ offers to the baking industry, solving some of the greatest challenges such as reducing expensive cocoa in a cake and extending shelf life, give me a huge buzz.
What would you do differently if you had your time again?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if I had my time again, I would certainly employ individuals with more experience than me. Starting a company with little money meant I took on people who didn’t have relevant experience. Recently, I’ve recruited wisely and I love learning from people more knowledgeable than myself.
You’ve invested a lot of money into the company over the years – what are the plans for 2025?
2025 is a big year for investment. We are currently making a significant upgrade to our milling facility. There are also huge updates underway to create our technical innovation centre including a brand-new custom test bakery and updated laboratory with lots of brilliant new equipment with extra space to accommodate our growing team. Office space improvements and health and safety developments are also a major priority for this year.
How do you see the future of Kudos Blends?
The future is bright. Our products are fantastic and we have the ability to supply the international market, so the world is our oyster. Our manufacturing capability is A1 – I am super proud of it! Most of all though, I simply have the best team EVER! They work hard, we have fun and they endeavour to support our customers in whatever way they can.
Congratulations to everyone at Kudos Blends for reaching this milestone, and thank you to Dinnie for sharing her story. To find out more about Kudos Blends’ products, solutions and achievements please visit our information hub where we have a wealth of articles, case studies and news.
