Pukka Pies
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1963 |
| Founder(s) | Trevor Storer |
| Headquarters | Leicestershire, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Tim and Andrew Storer |
| Products | Pies |
| Employees | 262 |
| Website | http://pukkapies.co.uk |
Pukka Pies is a manufacturer of pies that is headquartered in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. A family company founded in 1963 by Trevor Storer, it is currently run by his sons Tim and Andrew. It employs 262 people at its factory in Syston, producing 180,000 pies and pasties per day. The brand is one of the most popular pie brands in the United Kingdom.[1]
With the company's net worth at £35m as of 2003 and turnover as of 2007 at £25m, Trevor Storer is the 904th richest person in the United Kingdom, according to a Sunday Times survey.[2]
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[edit] Products
The range of products produced by the company also includes sausage rolls, catering sausages, and frozen puff pastry.[1] It also includes non-meat foods, with the company's Potato, Cheese, and Onion Pasty and Vegetable Pre-Sheeted Puff Pastry Roll both having been approved by the Vegetarian Society.[3]
According to the company, the favourite pie flavours in the United Kingdom, based upon its sales, are:[4]
| Flavour | Popularity |
|---|---|
| Steak & Kidney | 42% |
| Chicken & Mushroom | 32% |
| Minced Beef & Onion | 18% |
| Others (Steak; Meat & Potato; Balti) | 8% |
A pastiche of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting Le Déjeuner des Canotiers hangs in the reception at the company's headquarters, with the original characters replaced by members of the Storer family.[1]
Pukka Pies are most commonly seen for sale in chip shops. In 2008 though, the company started selling their pies in UK supermarkets for the customer to heat up themselves at home.
[edit] Sale at football grounds
Millmoor, home ground of Rotherham United F.C., was the first sporting venue where Pukka Pies were sold. The supporters of Rotherham United still maintain the record for the most pies consumed at a football match, with a consumption of pies 40% above the Football League average.[5]
[edit] Promotion
Several workers at the factory posed for a nude calendar for 2006, in order to raise money for the Tsunami Appeal and the NSPCC.[6]
Advertising slogans for the company have included "Socialise with Pukka Pies" and "Pukka Pies, don't compromise", which has been the subject of satire.[7]
The main stand at Boundary Park, home of Oldham Athletic A.F.C., is called the Pukka Pies stand.[8] The company is the official sponsor of the England Band who also play for Sheffield Wednesday.[9]
They also sponsored the 2009 UK Snooker Championship,[10] and the winner, China's Ding Junhui, was awarded his body weight in meat pies, a total of 276 to match his 69 kg body weight. He later announced that he would donate all the pies to Homeless and Roofless at Christmas (HARC), a Sheffield-based charity.[11]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c "Keeping it in the family". Bake & Take magazine (bakery.co.uk). 2005-10-04. http://www.bod.bakery.co.uk/bodpages.nsf/22e8537493e5720280256be000364497/82cde3e876a4972680257090004a07cc?OpenDocument.
- ^ "Trevor Storer". Rich List (London: Times Newspapers Ltd.). 2003. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/richlist/person/0,,22618,00.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
- ^ "Stock up on the Pukka Pies, Just in time for National Vegetarian Week 2002" (Press release). Vegetarian Society. 2002-05-16. http://www.vegsoc.org/press/pressarchive/aprv5.html.
- ^ "Go figure Pie chart". Independent on Sunday (Independent Newspapers UK Limited). 2005-11-20. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20051120/ai_n15851577.[dead link]
- ^ Ashdown, John (2010-01-27). "Is Rotherham really the pie capital of the football world?". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/27/rotherham-pie-capital-of-football. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
- ^ christian.march (2005-12-15). "CALENDAR LADS DO A PUKKA JOB". Melton Today. http://www.meltonmowbraytoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=755&ArticleID=1286167.
- ^ http://upsideclown.com/2002_03_25.shtml
- ^ Duncan Adams (2004-07-26). The Essential Football Fan (2005). Aesculus Press Ltd. p. 143. ISBN 1-904328-22-9.
- ^ John Sinclair (2006-05-11). "Footballs' pukka band!". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2006/05/11/pukka_worldcup_feature.shtml.
- ^ http://www.worldsnooker.com/uk_championship09_qualifying_news.htm?tid=145
- ^ "Ding donates UK prize to charity". BBC News. 2009-12-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/snooker/8415535.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
[edit] References
- Michelle Knott (2006-03-01). "Who ate all the pies?". Food Manufacture (William Reed Publishing Ltd). http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/2941/Who_ate_all_the_pies_.html.
