About Island Bakery

Island Bakery is a small organic biscuit maker on the Isle of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland, and almost everything interesting about it follows from that island location. Founded in 1999 by Joe and Dee Reade, it bakes organic biscuits on Mull and ships them to the mainland, an operation that only makes environmental sense because the bakery runs on its own renewable energy, including a wood-fired biomass boiler fuelled by timber from the island's own woodland. That is the core of the company's identity, not a marketing flourish.

The range is organic sweet biscuits done with real ingredients, the lemon, chocolate and ginger melts and similar lines, built around butter and organic flour rather than cost-engineered recipes. The sustainability story is unusually substantive: organic certification, the renewable bakery, and low-footprint packaging. For our shelf Island Bakery is the organic biscuit brand with an environmental story that actually holds together rather than being bolted on. The biscuits are genuinely good, properly buttery and clean-tasting, and the renewable island bakery is the rare green claim that survives close inspection because it is structural to how the company operates. It sits at the premium end of the biscuit shelf and earns it, and for the customer who wants a treat that is both genuinely good and genuinely well-made, it is one of the most honest recommendations we can make.

Key facts

• Founded by Joe and Dee Reade Started baking organic shortbread and traybakes on Mull in 1999. Still independent, still on the island, still making every recipe from organic-certified raw ingredients.
• 100% renewable energy Hydro turbine on the hill-burn behind the bakery plus local wind power. Every biscuit baked is genuinely carbon-neutral, which almost no other UK biscuit producer can claim.
• Wood-fired oven technology Sustainably sourced Hebridean timber fuels the ovens. The radiant heat creates a finer, more delicate crumb than electric convection ovens can produce. The choice that gives Island Bakery biscuits their signature melt-in-mouth texture.
• Soil Association Organic Every ingredient traceable to organic-certified production. Real butter rather than palm oil throughout the range, real lemon oil and real ginger rather than synthetic flavourings, no artificial colours or preservatives anywhere.

The founders

Brand timeline

1. 1999 Founded on Mull

   Joe & Dee Reade start baking organic biscuits in Tobermory, Isle of Mull. The decision to base the bakery on a remote Scottish island was deliberate, both founders wanted to demonstrate that craft food production could thrive outside urban centres.

2. 2002 Wood-fired ovens

   Bakery commits to wood-fired oven technology using sustainably sourced Hebridean timber. The radiant heat from wood-fired ovens gives the biscuits a finer crumb than electric convection ovens, at the cost of slower batch times.

3. 2014 Hydro turbine commissioned

   A small hydro turbine on the hill burn behind the bakery is installed, generating renewable electricity for the bakery operations year-round.

4. Today 100% renewable energy

   Hydro turbine on a hill burn behind the bakery plus local wind power. Genuinely carbon-neutral biscuit production, certified by independent audit and rare in commercial UK baking.

5. 2026 Stocked at Teas.co.uk

   Hand-picked into the curator selection for the artisan biscuit tier alongside Border and other small-batch British bakers.

Sustainability

Island Bakery is a leader in sustainable biscuit production ensuring that every component of this product respects the environment and the livelihoods of the Hebridean community.

• Low Carbon Footprint The production facility is powered entirely by local renewable wind and hydro energy.
• Woodchip Oven Technology Provides a unique baking environment using sustainably sourced wood from the Isle of Mull.
• Palm Oil Free Recipe All recipes rely exclusively on pure organic butter to protect tropical biodiversity.
• Transparent Sourcing Traceable organic ingredients are utilised with absolutely no artificial colours or preservatives.