Pasties have been selling so well during lockdown for one Cornish bakery that it's had to take on more staff to meet demand.
Prima Bakeries has seen sales soar, especially from people who might have been shielding or wary of going into shops.
“We sold 80,000 pasties during the lockdown,” said owner and managing director Mark Norton. “Day in, day out, we sent hundreds of boxes out all over the 海角视频.
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“We continued to trade through the lockdown. We didn’t lay off staff or furlough anyone and it’s been so busy we actually recruited seven new people.”
Mark Norton, owner of Prima Bakeries in Scorrier (Image: Prima Bakery)
In the past ten years, Prima Bakeries has gone from 19 staff to 96, three vans to 12 and 500 pasties a week to 30,000.
The business is now seven times bigger and operates 24/7, compared with the 25% capacity ten years ago – mainly as a wholesale business, with a single shop at the front of the bakery.
Prima Bakeries doesn’t have a high-street presence but the factory shop in Scorrier, just off the A30, has done good trade through the pandemic – especially the frozen section, which opened to help people when supermarkets shelves were empty.
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Mark said: “Our retail trade went down when the hospitality sector closed down but our home delivery and wholesale trade to Spar, Co-op, Costcutter and other convenience stores went up as bigger supermarkets struggled.
“As well as pasties, our biggest sellers have been bread and rolls. When there was a shortage we also decided to sell flour in 1kg bags, and that went mad.
"I didn’t want us to profiteer from Covid and the lockdown so I made sure we sold our classic steak pasty for £1.25 so hard-up families who were struggling could have a meal for four for £5.
“Our pasties and other frozen baked goods did tremendously well. It’s been so successful that we had to open a special extension to the shop at the front of the bakery.
“Through our partnership with the Cornish Hamper Company we’ve seen our mail-order side of the business go through the roof.
“We’re still very small compared to Ginsters, but to make sure we continued to make our pasties by hand we recruited more people and continued to focus on making the best top-quality products possible.”
Mark says he believes the company’s growth is down to an increased interest in baking and local food provenance.
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“People want locally-made food,” he said. “That’s what Covid has shown us even more.
“At times like this they’ve realised there are local companies in Cornwall who stayed open and kept their staff, and they want to support that.”