A Shocking Look At The Factory That Produces Britain’s Sandwiches

If you’ve ever wondered where you lunchtime sandwich comes from, then we’ve got a story that will definitely have you assessing where you buy your lunch. It turns out that 44% of Britain’s supermarket sandwich market all come from the same Greencore factory in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Getting through 300,000 loaves of bread every week; three million sandwiches are made by an army of 200 workers, half of whom are from outside the UK. With Polish the second language at the factory, the company have claimed that UK workers are unwilling to do this type of job.

Sandwiches from the factory are sold by household UK brands Waitrose, M&S, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Boots, but photos from the factory have shown that a lot of the workers are operating and filling sandwiches with bare hands. Not a particularly good look for a company providing a big slice of Britain’s lunches.

Greencore have insisted however that bare hands allow works to see more clearly if they have any contaminant material on their hands. For example, a rogue piece of chicken breast when the production line has moved to cheese sandwiches. With 600 million sandwiches leaving the plant every year, the scale of the operation is simply staggering.

Stories from the factory floor have further damaged Greencore’s reputation however, with former employees revealing that agency workers are often sent packing on a whim, kept late and forced to work Bank Holidays. Also workers are only paid for part of their lunch break, with many on minimum wage as it is.

Will this hands on approach be enough to stop you buying supermarket sandwiches? Not me, but it isn’t exactly the sort of thing germaphobes want to hear. I know a lot of people that refuse to eat supermarket sarnies, and now I’m beginning to understand their point. So if you’re looking for another snack to enjoy at lunchtime, maybe you should consider making this Greek-inspired BLT instead. Shocked by this saddening sandwich saga? Let us know.