Woolworths Baker of the Year: Shehan Nandasiri from Katikati rises to the top, makes final four in national competition

Charge baker Shehan Nandasiri from Woolworths Katikati is an expert in sourdough.

Shehan Nandasiri has been rising to the top as a red-hot baker in the Woolworths supermarket chain.

The Woolworths Katikati charge baker has been busy slaving over a hot stove competing against 146 contenders in the supermarket chain.

Out of the 146, he was one of four selected for the final bake-off at Manukau Institute of Technology on Tuesday, vying for the Woolworths Baker of the Year title.

Being a finalist in this competition is a huge accomplishment, a spokesperson says. Karli Colmer-Cormish from Woolworths Dargaville took out the top spot.

The finalists vying for the title were asked to create a savoury dish, a sweet dish and one of their choice. Shehan baked his favourite — kumara and cumin loaf, a coffee cream cheese banana bread and chocolate mock cream custard buns.

Hands down, sourdough is his favourite thing to bake, he says. His best tip is to score the bread.

“Scoring the bread makes it look really good, but it helps on the inside to keep that perfect shape and that’s the main thing you want.’’

Instore, his favourite things to create are all crusty loaves and tiger bread.

He learnt more techniques from experts at the Auckland competition, he says.

Shehan has been charge baker at Woolworths Katikati for two years. He’s from Sri Lanka and studied at The Culinary Collective in Auckland. He then moved to Tauranga where he was head baker at The Artisan Bread Bakers in Pyes Pa before moving to Katikati.

Woolworths’ annual Baker of the Year competition is a celebration of baking excellence and is a platform for bakers to showcase their skills and gain recognition from industry experts.