A COTSWOLD bakery is shipping thousands of fruitcakes to Tokyo after proving a smash hit with Japanese customers.

Huffkins Bakery, which has tea rooms in Burford and Witney, will send a regular supply of cakes and merchandise to South East Asia after fulfilling its first significant export contract earlier this year.

The company has twice travelled to the Japanese capital to set up pop-up tea rooms, most recently last month, when it produced 13,000 scones in six days.

Fruitcakes, shortbread and Huffkins-branded goods will make the journey as part of the contract, with the products available in two high-end department stores.

The company identified the unusual export market when Japanese tourists began visiting its Burford tea room, but managing director Joshua Taee believes there is no single reason for Huffkins' popularity.

He said: "It's like asking why sushi is so popular in London.

"Japan has a great tea culture and tourists are always fascinated to know about our history."

"Our brand is also very powerful and Japanese people are very interested in brands, but fundamentally they love the product."

Huffkins was established in 1890 and remains independent, with tea rooms in Gloucestershire and Warwickshire as well as West Oxfordshire.

While it still retains its Cotswold charm, a decision to attend the FOODEX trade show in Tokyo in March 2017 helped the business move into the international market.

With backing from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for International Trade (DIT), Huffkins formed part of a delegation showcasing British food and drink to Japanese consumers.

The support comes through the Food is GREAT campaign, a programme run by Defra and DIT which showcases the UK’s food and drink abroad and encourage more businesses to consider exporting.

Following the trade show, Huffkins received strong interest from several Japanese food and drink distributors and secured a partnership with one in October 2017, around the time of the last pop-up tea room.

Around 12,000 scones were produced on that occasion, but staff still struggled to meet demand.

Mr Taee said: "We were keeping up by the skins of our teeth.

"Even at our Burford shop some people buy 15 to 20 bags each and clean our store out."

A pipeline of orders will travel across the globe over the next year following the initial 1.7 tonne batch, with products available in store and on Huffkins' Japanese distributor's website.

The company is looking to further expand its exports, having already secured orders to Australia, Canada and Switzerland through previous trade shows.