The Cottage Bakery in Blackpool causes stir online for selling ‘non-binary gingerbread people’

A post on Facebook generated over 1k shares, 340 comments and 180 likes after a person shared an image of a ‘non-binary gingerbread person’.

The biscuit – found at The Cottage Bakery in Hawes Side Lane – sparked a mixed response, with some backing the decision and others calling it the “woke agenda”.

But owner Paul Cook said it has actually taken people three years to notice the change.

Why did the bakery begin labelling the biscuits as ‘non-binary gingerbread people’?

Paul says the bakery has been selling gingerbread for 20 years, but they had to begin labelling their products when ‘Natasha’s Law’ was laid in Parliament in 2019.

It followed the tragic death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse – a teenager who died after suffering an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger baguette.

The law, which came into effect in October 2021, requires all businesses to provide full ingredient and allergen labelling on foods which are pre-packed for direct sale.

“We began putting labels on them before Covid, but we had people coming in and saying it was wrong and they were not men,” Paul said.

“So I had a chat with my printer about and he said, ‘Why don’t you call them non-binary?’

“I thought that’d be funny and that’s how it came about, but it’s taken three years for someone to make a big deal of it.”

What has the reaction been like?

Pauls says some people have taken the decision well and had a laugh, but “others have been quite negative about it”.

He added: “The label is on the back so they can’t see it when it’s on the counter, and most people ask for a gingerbread man.

“It wasn’t until the labels were on show that people started making silly comments.

“It was done as a bit of a laugh because of people’s comments in the first place. It wasn’t done to be politically correct … and some people have thankfully taken it as a joke”.

JL Bean in Cleveleys

It’s not the first time gingerbread people have created a stir in Lancashire, with a similar incident occurring at JL Bean in Cleveleys in 2018.

Paul Lewis said at the time: “My wife just put this little ‘gingerbread persons’ label on them as a whim, and that was last year.

“It was never anything to do with political correctness and we’ve not really had any comeback until now.

“I noticed the comments on Facebook and most of them were quite jokey but I was surprised at how seriously some of the people were taking things.

“I think maybe there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding.”