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Company type | Ltd |
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Industry | Food, pastry |
Founded | 1969 |
Headquarters | Callington, Cornwall, UK |
Products | Pasties, sandwiches, snacks |
Owner | Samworth Brothers |
Number of employees | 700+ |
Ginsters /ˈɡɪnstərz/ is a company based in Callington in Cornwall, in the south-west of England. The largest pasty maker in the UK in turnover,[ citation needed ] it specialises in making mass-produced pasties, sausage rolls, sandwiches, pasta bowls and other savoury snacks. Since 1977, it has been owned by Mark and David Samworth. [1] [2]
The Ginsters family were in the business of supplying horse manure to foundries for mixing with sand for the moulds for casting. The business was based in West Bromwich before finally moving to Longwood Lane, Walsall. After the second world war, Geoff Ginster approached his father saying that he wished to move with his family down to the West Country. He asked his father if it would be possible to have his inheritance early in order to so do. Originally moving to Devon, Geoff Ginster started making clotted cream and became very successful to the point where the Milk Marketing Board offered to buy him out. Geoff refused only to be met with the response, "if he did not sell the MMB would cease to supply his business with milk". Geoff Ginster having no choice moved to Cornwall and started his Cornish Pasty business in 1969. They started the business in a near-derelict egg-packing station, with a staff of four. [3] Geoffrey Ginster started production of pasties from a "secret recipe" he claimed to have obtained from a ship's cook. Production slowly increased until by 1970 a staff of 30 was producing 48,000 units a day. Initially Ginsters pasties were sold to pubs, cafés, corner shops and other small stores in Plymouth and nearby seaside towns, before expanding further to cover southern England. [4]
In 1977, Geoffrey Ginster retired and sold the business to Samworth Brothers, leading to further growth, modernisation and development. An adjoining factory was acquired, renovated and equipped with modern baking and packing facilities. It was renamed the Tamar Bakery, and was later extended with new, largely automated, machinery. When it went into operation the original Ginsters bakery was closed. In 1984, Ginsters was producing 1.5 million pasties a week and had become the biggest employer in East Cornwall's private sector. In 1987, a new bakery, named Lynher Bakery after the nearby River Lynher, was built alongside the Tamar Bakery. [4] [5]
In 1990, Ginsters commenced advertising and promotional campaigns to raise awareness of their product. This resulted in Ginsters Original Cornish Pasty being stocked by leading supermarkets, petrol stations, convenience stores and motorway service stations across Britain. Ginsters claim that their Original Cornish Pasty is the biggest selling product in the savoury pastry market, and that during a twenty-year period 450 million of them have been sold. [6]
The company has donated at least £32,000 to the Conservative Party since 2002, on top of the £610,000 donated by the individual Samworth brothers since 2010. [1] [7]
Ginsters’ most popular product is the Original Cornish Pasty. Cornish pasties were granted protected geographical indication (PGI) status from the European Union in 2011. This product is still made using Ginsters’ original recipe. Since the 1990s the product range has been extended to include a variety of pasties, savoury slices, sausage rolls, pork pies, hot pies, snacks, sandwiches, flatbreads, wraps and packaged salads. Ginsters claim to source their ingredients from neighbouring farms in Cornwall. [8]
From 2019, Ginsters has been producing vegan products, for example its Moroccan vegetable pasty, [9] [10] which won an award in 2020. [11] In 2021 the company introduced additional vegan pasty fillings, including Bombay potato and spinach, and Cajun Spiced Sweet Potato and Chickpea. [12]
From 2002 to 2011, Ginsters sponsored football club Plymouth Argyle F.C., rekindling this sponsorship in 2016 with a 3-year deal. It also sponsors Callington Town FC, Callington Rugby Club and Launceston Rugby Club ("The Cornish All Blacks").[ citation needed ]
Ginsters became the title sponsor for Speedworks Motorsport in the 2019 British Touring Car Championship season with the manufacturer backed Toyota Corolla. The team entry was known as Team Toyota GB with Ginsters.[ citation needed ]
A pasty or Cornish pasty is a British baked pastry, a variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, but has spread all over the British Isles, and elsewhere through the Cornish diaspora. It consists of a filling, typically meat and vegetables, baked in a folded and crimped shortcrust pastry circle.
The Tamar is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall. A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape, and some is included in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape due to its historic mining activities.
The River Lynher flows through east Cornwall, England, and enters the River Tamar at the Hamoaze, which in turn flows into Plymouth Sound.
Callington is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about 7 miles (11 km) north of Saltash and 9 miles (14 km) south of Launceston.
Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as baked goods, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Originally a high street chain, it has since entered the convenience and drive-through markets.
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Soreen is a brand of malt loaf and is owned by Mark and David Samworth, a food manufacturing company based in Leicestershire.
Higgidy is a fresh food manufacturer based in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England. The company produces a range of pies, quiches, tortillas and rolls. It was co-founded by Camilla Stephens and James Foottit in 2003. The name of the company originates from an early description of the uneven appearance of their pies by a visiting child.
Cornish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with Cornwall and the Cornish people. It has been heavily influenced by the geography of the county as well as its social history.
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Palethorpe's is a British producer of cooked meat and pastry products and was particularly well known for its branded sausages. Founded in 1852, it was bought by the Bibby Group in 1969 and then by Haverhill Meat Products before becoming part of the Northern Foods Chilled Foods division in 1991. Palethorpes was then part of Pork Farms before being taken over by the Addo Food Group in turn owned by PAI Partners.
Samworth Brothers is a British food manufacturer which produces a range of chilled and ambient foods, both own-label and branded. It is the owner of Cornish pasty maker Ginsters and malt loaf manufacturer Soreen, and is also known as a maker of certified Melton Mowbray pork pies.
Ferguson Plarre's Bakehouse is a family owned and operated bakery business based in Melbourne, Australia. The business began as two separate entities with the families coming together to form Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses in 1980. Ferguson Plarre now has 86 stores across Victoria. In 2012, members of the Plarre family bought out the Ferguson's stake and the business remains owned and operated by the Plarre family with Steve Plarre as CEO. There are only a small number of company owned stores now as the majority of stores are run by franchisees.
West Cornwall Pasty Company is a fast food chain in the United Kingdom specialising in making and selling pasties. The company was established in 1998 and has been owned by Mark and David Samworth since 2017.
"Pasty tax" was a popular phrase used by the British press to describe a proposal in the 2012 United Kingdom budget to simplify the tax treatment of "hot takeaway food" so that Value Added Tax (VAT) would be charged at 20% in all cases. The change would have increased the sale price of hot snacks such as sausage rolls and Cornish pasties sold on the premises where they were baked. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne delivered the proposal of the so-called "March Budget".
The World Pasty Championships were an annual event held in Cornwall to celebrate the Cornish Pasty and its variants, with entrants from around the world including Australia and the Americas. Awards were given to amateurs, professionals, juniors and companies. Entries in the Cornish pasty category must be made in Cornwall with traditional ingredients and techniques, but far more freedom was allowed in the "open savoury" category.
A meat-free sausage roll is a savoury pastry snack that contains a non-meat filling. The snack is an alternative to the conventional sausage roll that generally contains pork or beef. Meat-free sausage rolls are sold at retail outlets and are also available from bakeries as a take-away food.
Chris Eden is a two-Michelin star chef from Cornwall, England. He is currently the Executive Head Chef of the Watergate Bay Hotel, having previously held the same role at Gidleigh Park and Driftwood in Portscatho, both of which attained 1-star ratings from Michelin during his tenure.