Paddy McGuinness to deliver behind-the-scenes look at Lincoln Quavers site on BBC’s Inside The Factory this week
A Lincolnshire factory will star a TV documentary tonight (Tuesday January 14).
You can see first-hand how one of Britain’s most iconic snacks, Quavers, are made as the cameras go behind the scenes at PepsiCo’s manufacturing site in Lincoln as part of BBC One’s Inside the Factory.
During the episode Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey tour the site – which has been the home of Quavers for more than 50 years – exploring every careful step that goes into producing each packet.
“Quavers have long been a household favourite across the UK, so we’re excited to be taking people behind-the-scenes to see how our iconic curly snacks are crafted by our 200-strong team here in Lincoln,” said Layla Whiting, manufacturing director of PepsiCo.
“Following a multi-million-pound upgrade to our facilities, there’s never been a better time in our 50-year history to pull back the curtain and show everyone how we make Quavers.”
It begins at the very start of Quavers’ journey in Leicester, where starch is extracted from peeling and slicing the potatoes used to make Walkers potato crisps.
This circular process continues as the starch is transported north to Lincoln and Paddy is shown how the rest of the magic happens to create Quavers.
Paddy then gets a unique insight into how Quavers are transformed from sheets of dough - similar to lasagne sheets – into light, curly snacks bursting with flavour.
This covers how Quavers take their iconic musical note shape during the cooking stage, and how they are tossed through the site’s large flavour drums to ensure the perfect amount of seasoning.
After an inside look at the impressive process behind making Quavers and achieving their distinctive shape, Paddy explores the site’s packaging and logistics operation, which gets the snacks ready to be transported from the Lincoln site to customers across the UK.
Viewers tuning into the episode will also catch a glimpse of recently-completed upgrades to the long-standing city centre site, following a £24 million investment from PepsiCo to support rising demand for Quavers.
Upgrades made as part of the investment include the addition of a new production line, with existing machinery replaced with faster and more modern equipment.
Two new compact packaging machines have also been installed, to reduce the amount of virgin plastic used in Quavers multipack outer packaging by an average of 30% when compared with previous designs.
The investment will also enable training and upskilling opportunities across the site’s 200-strong workforce.
Inside the Factory will air on BBC One tomorrow (Tuesday, January 14) at 8pm.