Renshaw

Renshaw – Over 125 years of passion for fondant, marzipan and cake design

Few brands in the baking world can look back on a history of more than a century. Renshaw is one of them. Founded in 1898 by John F. Renshaw in London, the company's story began with a vision: to manufacture professional confectionery products to the highest quality standards and make them accessible in Great Britain. Renshaw brought the knowledge and production methods for marzipan from Germany – a product barely known in the British confectionery tradition at that time, and one the brand would elevate to a speciality in the decades that followed. Today, more than 125 years after its founding, Renshaw is one of Europe's best-known brands in cake decorating. Its products are sold in over 30 countries worldwide and are a household name in professional patisseries and bakeries as well as among ambitious home bakers. Since December 2023 the company has been part of British Bakels, trading as "Renshaw by Bakels" – with quality and range fully preserved.

History and milestones

Renshaw's early history is characterised by consistent growth and a drive to internationalise. As early as the 1930s, the company was exporting its products to New Zealand, Argentina and Mexico – a remarkable international reach for the time, demonstrating how early Renshaw developed the ambition to be more than a purely British supplier. In 1924 the company moved from London to Mitcham in Surrey, where production was further expanded. Following the merger with Liverpool manufacturer Allmey & Layfield in 1980, production was gradually relocated to Liverpool, a process completed in 1991. Liverpool has been Renshaw's main production site ever since. A defining milestone was the development of the Regalice roll fondant in the 1970s. Regalice quickly established itself as a standard product in professional cake design and brought Renshaw to international recognition in the confectionery world. Its ease of use, high elasticity and stable surface convinced professionals and home bakers alike – laying the foundation for what Renshaw is today: a brand that has helped shape modern cake design. Renshaw's quality has been recognised at the highest level on multiple occasions: the company received several Royal Warrants, the first from King George VI in 1950. These appointments, granted only to suppliers of exceptional and consistent quality, underline the standing Renshaw holds in the British and international food industry. Very few food manufacturers can claim such recognition from the British Royal Household.

Renshaw by Bakels – continuity under a new roof

In December 2023, following financial difficulties, Renshaw was acquired by British Bakels, an international company with decades of experience in manufacturing baking and confectionery ingredients. The acquisition secured the continuation of the brand and its production sites. Under the new name "Renshaw by Bakels", the entire product range is preserved – the more than 125 years of product expertise, the proven recipes and the brand identity are all carried forward. For specialist retailers, patisseries and home bakers this means: familiar quality, now embedded in the resources and international infrastructure of a global food company.

The product range

At the heart of the Renshaw range are the ready-to-use roll fondants and sugar pastes for which the brand is internationally renowned. Renshaw fondants impress with their pronounced elasticity, consistent texture and easy workability – properties decisive when covering cakes, cutting out decorations and modelling figures. Renshaw also offers high-quality marzipan in various almond-to-sugar ratios for different applications – from the classic covering of fruit cakes to fine confectionery production. The range also includes flower paste and modelling compounds for delicate sugar flowers and figures, ready-to-use buttercremes and frostings, caramel and filling compounds, as well as food colourings and airbrush colours for precise tinting. Sugar decorations, sprinkles, glazes, icings and selected chocolate products round off the offer, making Renshaw a full-range supplier for all areas of modern cake design.

Quality and processing properties

What sets Renshaw products apart from cheap alternatives is their consistently high processing properties. The roll fondant rolls out evenly without cracking, adheres reliably to cakes and holds its shape over time – even at room temperature and with slight fluctuations in humidity. Colours remain stable after drying without bleeding or fading. The marzipan features a high almond content, a natural flavour and a dimensionally stable consistency that allows both rolling and hand modelling without difficulty. The flower paste dries to a firm, paper-thin structure that is indispensable for realistic sugar blossoms and fine decorations. Buttercremes and frostings are formulated to a spreadable consistency that evens out imperfections, remains stable beneath fondant and delivers a pleasant flavour. This reliability is why Renshaw is regularly used as a reference product in confectionery schools and professional cake decorating courses.

Renshaw in cake design – areas of application

Renshaw products accompany cakes through every phase of creation. The process begins with baking and filling – where buttercremes and filling compounds come into play. The cake is then prepared with a marzipan or buttercreme base layer before the roll fondant is applied. For detailed toppers, flowers and figures, modelling compound and flower paste follow. Colours and metallic dusts add depth and elegance to the finished surface. Renshaw covers each of these steps with coordinated products – a significant advantage over assembling products from multiple manufacturers. Renshaw has established itself as a standard brand in numerous countries, particularly for wedding cakes, birthday cakes and novelty cakes. The reliability of the products is especially important for commissioned cake makers, where mistakes at certain occasions – a wedding, a milestone birthday, a christening – simply cannot be corrected. Renshaw has been delivering that reliability for more than a century.

Renshaw at miniSchoggi – British heritage quality for home confectionery

miniSchoggi offers everything that ambitious home bakers and passionate home confectioners need to make cakes, chocolate, pralines, glacé, pasta and bread themselves. The range provides ingredients, tools and materials – for professional results from your own kitchen. Renshaw fits into this concept as an ideal partner. Anyone making a cake from scratch at miniSchoggi will find with Renshaw a ready-to-use roll fondant that is easy to work with even for beginners and delivers professional results. The marzipan serves as a base for homemade confectionery specialities or as a layer in fruit cakes. Buttercremes and filling compounds simplify the production of multi-tiered cakes, and flower paste opens up the possibility of modelling delicate sugar flowers that transform any cake into a work of art. Renshaw and miniSchoggi share more than just a common product range: both stand for the conviction that craft quality is not a matter of a professional setting, but of the right materials and the joy of making things yourself. Working with Renshaw's more than 125 years of expertise and miniSchoggi's ingredients, you can create confectionery products at home that stand up to professional standards in both quality and appearance.