ITV documentary series ‘Made in Britain’ will focus on Hull’s famous Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire pudding factory. The programme airs at 8pm.
The household name, based in Freightliner Road in Hull, opened its doors to camera crews several months ago. Viewers will get a glimpse inside the factory, which produces 900million Yorkshire Puddings every year. This works out at a bag of Yorkshire Puddings every 1.2 seconds.
Aunt Bessie’s is one of Hull’s best-known food names. Until last year, it was owned by historic Hull food firm William Jackson Food Group. However, it hit the headlines in summer 2018 when the company changed hands in a deal worth more than £200m. It is now owned by Birds Eye owner Nomad Foods.
In 1974, Butlins asked Aunt Bessie’s to supply their holiday camps with frozen Yorkshire Puddings. And the company has been using the same tried and trustedrecipe ever since.
Tonight’s TV show will highlight the work of the 400 staff as they make a staggering 900 million Yorkshire Puddings every year. To do so, they use almost 30 tonnes of flour each day. Once formed, the batter rolls into ovens which are more than 50m long, and perfectly formed Yorkshires emerge at the other end. A state-of-the-art machine then sorts the puddings by weight in a fraction of a second, and drops them into bags ready to be sealed, boxed and sent off to the shops.
As with most of the UK’s food industry, nothing is wasted. The occasional Yorkshire Pudding that doesn’t quite make the cut is discarded, with all food waste becoming animal feed.