Background
This customer has been baking Pork Pies since 1928. The renowned pies are made to a traditional recipe with the company having a staunch commitment to using the freshest of ingredients in all of their bakes.
From humble beginnings, the company has grown into a multi-million-pound business that employs 250 people from the local community. They produce over one million Pork Pies in three BRC grade AA bakeries every week. These pies are sold throughout the UK in supermarkets such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Co-op and Iceland as well as adorning the shelves in numerous convenience stores, deli’s, butchers & farm shops nation-wide.
The Challenge
As Brits are spending more than £1billion on pies every year and with pork pies being a firm favourite, demand for the heritage and quality of their pies began to peak – so much so that their Operations Director, needed to upscale operations in order to fulfil demand. Extra capacity for the cold storage of raw materials and additional blast freezing functionality for post-production chilling were essential elements to the scaling up of production, they turned to the team at AHR for help.
The Solution
Having carried out a full, on-site survey, the team at AHR were quickly able to determine the most practical way to provide the frozen storage and blast freeze facilities required onsite. Fortunately, the team were able to make recommendations based on using their standard portable cold stores, but crucially, they were able to tailor the cold stores to meet the requirements of the site by simply removing walls and producing panelled links to their existing building – this option provided an extremely cost-effective solution and also allowed the team to complete installation and handover in advance of initial deadline.
The solution has subsequently been duplicated at a further site and in total an order was placed for 8 portable coldstores with chill, freeze and blast freezing capabilities. The contract term was flexible and included a full service package – so far to date, AHR has provided over 15,000 rental days.
Commenting on the project their Operations Director said: “I’ve always found AHR to be an incredibly reliable supplier, they have a very honest and open attitude to every facet of their business – providing a first-class service no matter what part of the process you’re dealing with, from initial enquiry to site survey, project management, installation, and on-going support. I would have no hesitation in recommending AHR to anyone looking for a premium supplier.”
