Six young fish friers united for a tour of Blakemans’ state-of-the-art manufacturing and cooking centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, on Monday 13th October.
Blakemans, established in 1953, is a family business dedicated to supplying the best quality sausage and meat products to the wholesale, catering and food service sectors, including fish and chip businesses.
The event was organised by James Ellams, frier at Fish & Chips @ Weston Grove in Upton, Chester, and James Morris, sales director of James T. Blakeman. Attendees included Jay Potts, Fish & Chips @ Weston Grove, Kieran Bulpit, Donington Fish & Chips, Ella Brassington and Mikey Wallwork, Taylor’s Fish & Chips, and Charlie James, Pier Point Fish & Chips.
The visit began the night before, when the young friers came together in the City of Stoke for an evening of activities and a chance to enjoy food and form new friendships.
James Ellams commented: “James and his team couldn’t have made the young friers more welcome, although I did try to beat all the young friers on every activity the night before the factory tour!
“The never been done before tour of the factory was extremely well planned to ensure that the young friers could get the most out of the experience. Some had travelled eight hours to be there, which is incredible on your day off.”
The factory tour started with presentations on the history of the company, its growth and the recent acquisition by Cranswick.
Once dressed for the tour, the young friers experienced an in-depth walkthrough of the factory from raw ingredients arriving, to sausage production and the different casings used, through to the state-of-the-art freezing and packing process, and finally the finished products.
James added: “It was fascinating to see the investment and care that goes into making chip shops’ favourite sausages. I particularly liked hearing about the dedicated pigs in blankets facility, which start production in January each year to meet demand. Here bacon is hand-rolled on.”
The young friers were then treated to a lunch that showcased Blakeman’s products firsthand, while also presenting innovative ideas for loaded dogs and tips on how to boost profitability from a basic product.
After lunch, they took part in a cooking masterclass and a troubleshooting session covering common frying issues and how to resolve them.
Charlie James, frier at Pier Point Fish & Chips in Torquay, Devon, said: “It has been well worth the journey. It’s good to make new friends whilst learning at the same time.”
James Morris of Blakemans added: “We were thrilled to be asked by James to host this visit and we have thoroughly enjoyed meeting such a great group of young, enthusiastic and dedicated young friers.
“It was great to share with the group the work and investment that Blakeman’s is doing to provide timeless classics for the fish and chip industry, and to share innovative ways to introduce new menu items. I look forward to seeing the progress of these wonderful individuals as they develop further. The future is very bright.”
James finalised the day by thanking the team at Blakemans for putting on such a fantastic two-day event and for investing their time in the future of young people.
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