Pukka Pies

Pukka Pies
Private
Founded 1963
Founder Trevor Storer
Headquarters Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Key people
 Tim and Andrew Storer
Products Pies
Number of employees
 262
Website http://pukkapies.co.uk

Pukka Pies is a manufacturer of pies based in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. A family company founded in 1963 by Trevor Storer as "Trevor Storer's Home Made Pies", it was named Pukka Pies in 1964. 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.

With the company's net worth of £35 million in 2003 and turnover in 2007 of £25 million, Trevor Storer was the 904th richest person in the United Kingdom according to a Sunday Times survey.[1]

Products

The company's products include sausage rolls, catering sausages, frozen puff pastry,[2] and non-meat foods, with the Potato, Cheese, and Onion Pasty and Vegetable Pre-Sheeted Puff Pastry Roll 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; Cheese, Beer & Veal) 8%

A pastiche of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting Le Déjeuner des Canotiers hangs in the reception at the headquarters, with the original characters replaced by members of the Storer family.[2]

Pukka Pies are most commonly seen for sale in chip shops. In 2008 the company started selling its pies in UK supermarkets for the customer to heat up at home.

Sale at football grounds

Millmoor, then the home ground of Rotherham United F.C., was the first sporting venue where Pukka Pies were sold. Rotherham United's supporters hold the record for the most pies consumed at a football match, with a consumption 40% above the Football League average.[5]

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 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. It is also called the Pukka Pies stand for the main stand of Rotherham's home, New York Stadium.[8] The company is the official sponsor of the widely criticised[9] England Band, who also play for Sheffield Wednesday.[10]

The company sponsored the 2009 UK Snooker Championship,[11] and the winner, China's Ding Junhui, was awarded his body weight in meat pies, 276 to match his 69 kg weight. He later announced that he would donate all the pies to Homeless and Roofless at Christmas (HARC), a Sheffield-based charity.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Trevor Storer". Rich List (London: Times Newspapers Ltd.). 2003. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Keeping it in the family". Bake & Take magazine (bakery.co.uk). 2005-10-04.
  3. ↑ "Stock up on the Pukka Pies, Just in time for National Vegetarian Week 2002" (Press release). Vegetarian Society. 2002-05-16.
  4. ↑ "Go figure Pie chart". Independent on Sunday (Independent Newspapers UK Limited). 2005-11-20.
  5. ↑ Ashdown, John (2010-01-27). "Is Rotherham really the pie capital of the football world?". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  6. ↑ christian.march (2005-12-15). "CALENDAR LADS DO A PUKKA JOB". Melton Today.
  7. ↑ "upsideclown". upsideclown. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  8. ↑ Duncan Adams (2004-07-26). The Essential Football Fan (2005). Aesculus Press Ltd. p. 143. ISBN 1-904328-22-9.
  9. ↑ Gallagher, Paul (20 October 2013). "Brassed-off England fans seek great escape from supporters' band". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  10. ↑ John Sinclair (2006-05-11). "Footballs' pukka band!". BBC News.
  11. ↑ http://www.worldsnooker.com/uk_championship09_qualifying_news.htm?tid=145
  12. ↑ "Ding donates UK prize to charity". BBC News. 2009-12-16. Retrieved 2010-05-22.

Further reading

External links