Food manufacturing muse

robfosters · 4 Jun 2020 at 13:53

I’m pretty fascinated by large scale food manufacturing (sad I know).

One thing I can’t get my head round though is supermarket own brand. The big supermarkets do their own everything, milk, bread, meats, pies, beans, soups, just everything.

most of these products need their own factories to produce on a large scale. How many factories, dairies and farms do the likes of Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s etc actually own? It must cover a big percentage of the country, yet alone the workforce required for them.

adam cool dude · 4 Jun 2020 at 13:56

robfosters said:
I’m pretty fascinated by large scale food manufacturing (sad I know).

One thing I can’t get my head round though is supermarket own brand. The big supermarkets do their own everything, milk, bread, meats, pies, beans, soups, just everything.

most of these products need their own factories to produce on a large scale. How many factories, dairies and farms do the likes of Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s etc actually own? It must cover a big percentage of the country, yet alone the workforce required for them.

They don't they contract the work out. Our factory produces for JS, Tesco, Coop and M&S. The Supermarket chains are terrible because they hold the factories to ransom constantly looking for the cheapest price. No loyalty what so ever.

Ayahuasca · 4 Jun 2020 at 13:58

Many of the supermarkets own brand products are made in the same factories as other brands and sometimes the only difference is in the labelling.

robfosters · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:00

adam cool dude said:
They don't they contract the work out. Our factory produces for JS, Tesco, Coop and M&S. The Supermarket chains are terrible because they hold the factories to ransom constantly looking for the cheapest price. No loyalty what so ever.

So do you actually make different versions of a product for different supermarkets?

There must be variations in quality because some places charge far more than others.

robfosters · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:02

Ayahuasca said:
Many of the supermarkets own brand products are made in the same factories as other brands and sometimes the only difference is in the labelling.

So for example, could Sainsbury’s jam be made in the same factory as say, Hartleys?

Ayahuasca · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:03

robfosters said:
There must be variations in quality because some places charge far more than others.

A lot of that is in the marketing, pick somewhere like M&S and look at their desserts, the price is a joke considering the ingredients and quantity over products from somewhere like ASDA.

I'm not saying there isn't a difference in taste, but products like that are 90% sugar with a fancy label slapped on the package and maybe it features in one of their TV ads.

robfosters · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:04

Ayahuasca said:
A lot of that is in the marketing, pick somewhere like M&S and look at their desserts, the price is a joke considering the ingredients and quantity over products from somewhere like ASDA.

Some products are clearly different though. For example, M&S ready meals are in a different league to Asda’s.

builder22 · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:05

I used to think something similar about spoons....like where are all the dedicated spoon factories?

Turns out they make other things at the spoon factory

adam cool dude · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:07

robfosters said:
So do you actually make different versions of a product for different supermarkets?

There must be variations in quality because some places charge far more than others.

All in the raw materials that are specified. TTD products for example will use better/more ingredients than a standard JS product. M&S for example are very strict with what they want and generally use a lot better raw material than the main brands.

We also develop our own products on site and then pitch them to the supermarkets for sale. This is why you might see some own brand product come and go as they are testers to see if they sell or not.

Tesco's used to do a really nice fudge brownie milkshake that only lasted around a year. Would love to see that back one day

robfosters · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:11

builder22 said:
I used to think something similar about spoons....like where are all the dedicated spoon factories?

Turns out they make other things at the spoon factory

There’s a factory where they make pubs :eek:

Mr Badger · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:15

robfosters said:
I’m pretty fascinated by large scale food manufacturing (sad I know).

One thing I can’t get my head round though is supermarket own brand. The big supermarkets do their own everything, milk, bread, meats, pies, beans, soups, just everything.

most of these products need their own factories to produce on a large scale. How many factories, dairies and farms do the likes of Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s etc actually own? It must cover a big percentage of the country, yet alone the workforce required for them.

I thought you were trolling, but maybe not. A factory producing "own brands" as well as branded products is so commonplace that companies have made it a marketing point when it doesn't happen e.g. Kellogs stating "We don't make cereals for anyone else!".

Wizzfizz · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:15

Ayahuasca said:
Many of the supermarkets own brand products are made in the same factories as other brands and sometimes the only difference is in the labelling.

This pretty much.

Also, Asda's baked beans are a million times better than Heinz's

robfosters · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:16

Wizzfizz said:
This pretty much.

Also, Asda's baked beans are a million times better than Heniz's

But not better than Branston nom!

VincentHanna · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:17

Wizzfizz said:
This pretty much.

Also, Asda's baked beans are a million times better than Heniz's

I buy Branston.

Heinz baked bean sauce is so watery.

Wizzfizz · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:17

robfosters said:
But not better than Branston nom!

Never tried those, will have to try!

I tried going back to Heniz and found them super sweet and lacking compared to the sauce Asda use.

arknor · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:18

robfosters said:
I’m pretty fascinated by large scale food manufacturing (sad I know).

One thing I can’t get my head round though is supermarket own brand. The big supermarkets do their own everything, milk, bread, meats, pies, beans, soups, just everything.

most of these products need their own factories to produce on a large scale. How many factories, dairies and farms do the likes of Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s etc actually own? It must cover a big percentage of the country, yet alone the workforce required for them.

you know most things are made by the same factories right? they don't have a seperate factory for each brand it's just a tiny recipe change and a different label.

heinz got their own factory though

skip to 4:46 this is the place to go during a zombie apocalypse you could live on beans for generations
oh its also the thumbnail image anyway

adam cool dude · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:19

Ayahuasca said:
A lot of that is in the marketing, pick somewhere like M&S and look at their desserts, the price is a joke considering the ingredients and quantity over products from somewhere like ASDA.

I'm not saying there isn't a difference in taste, but products like that are 90% sugar with a fancy label slapped on the package and maybe it features in one of their TV ads.

That is not really true. M&S are actually one of strictest customers we deal with and always use the best ingredients for their products. Products also have a much shorter shelf life whereas some of the more common brands might stretch this out to an "acceptable level".

As an example one customer might accept browning of the carrot used in a recipe but for M&S it is unacceptable. Even the length of the carrot must be to certain length where as others don't really care.

robfosters · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:20

arknor said:
you know most things are made by the same factories right? they don't have a seperate factory for each brand it's just a tiny recipe change and a different label.

heinz got their own factory though

skip to 4:46 this is the place to go during a zombie apocalypse you could live on beans for generations
oh its also the thumbnail image anyway

I saw that on Inside the Factory. Mental place, the robotics are superb.

Wizzfizz · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:21

Heniz plant is 10 mins from me, I've bean there

Orionaut · 4 Jun 2020 at 14:23

robfosters said:
I’m pretty fascinated by large scale food manufacturing (sad I know).

One thing I can’t get my head round though is supermarket own brand. The big supermarkets do their own everything, milk, bread, meats, pies, beans, soups, just everything.

most of these products need their own factories to produce on a large scale. How many factories, dairies and farms do the likes of Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s etc actually own? It must cover a big percentage of the country, yet alone the workforce required for them.

This book

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NEO1M9M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Explains the entire process in great detail.

You may well not want to know!