Success story: The Lewis Pie Co.
Background
Lewis Pies is a long-established family bakery that was founded in Swansea in 1936. Over 90 years, the company has grown from a local pie maker into a modern food manufacturing business supplying customers across the UK and Europe. The company produces a wide range of savoury pastry products, including pies, pasties, rolls, and specialist pastry products, and serves a variety of sectors including foodservice, wholesale, travel catering and private-label retail customers.
Food safety and quality assurance are central to the business, with Lewis Pies maintaining an AA grade in their BRCGS certification. Sustainability is also a key priority for the company, having invested significantly in solar energy generation, a strong focus on waste reduction through lean manufacturing principles, and a zero-to-waste landfill policy.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
Lewis Pies contacted ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, when they were looking for an external review of their production processes to identify further waste reduction and efficiency improvements. ZERO2FIVE’s waste specialists carried out an initial two-day waste diagnostic, walking Lewis Pies’ production processes from goods-in all the way to finished product dispatch.
A second project saw ZERO2FIVE review Lewis Pies’ plans to install an additional linear pie production line from both hygienic design and process flow perspectives. This included a site visit and detailed assessment of the proposed layout and design.
ZERO2FIVE has also provided Lewis Pies with support in other areas, including an independent review of the suitability of MerryChef combination microwave and convection oven cooking instructions for two of their products. Support with the maintenance of BRCGS food safety management certification has also seen ZERO2FIVE review the company’s corrective and preventative action policies and procedures against the requirements of BRCGS Issue 9 and mentor staff to ensure effective implementation.
Benefits of the support
Following the waste diagnostic factory visit, ZERO2FIVE produced a report that confirmed Lewis Pies’ existing waste reduction initiatives are performing well, whilst also identifying further efficiency opportunities relating to stock management, pastry trim reduction and waste data analysis.
The review of the new production line plans identified no significant concerns regarding the proposed installation. However, ZERO2FIVE provided best practice considerations covering equipment layout verification through floor mapping, dividing wall design, and the use of projection technology as an alternative to painted walkway markings.
As a result of this support, Lewis Pies is looking to implement a number of ZERO2FIVE’s recommendations, helping the company to drive continuous improvements in sustainability, production efficiency and food safety.
Neil George, Operations Director, Lewis Pies: “The waste diagnostic carried out by ZERO2FIVE was well worth the time. The evaluation was thorough, covering waste across production, dispatch, and packaging, and flagging some genuinely useful opportunities we hadn’t fully considered ourselves, including potential for packaging reduction. Alongside the core diagnostic, the additional advisories raised throughout the visit added real value. Off the back of the report, we have a clear set of practical steps to work through that should help us reduce waste and improve efficiency going forward, giving us a good foundation for ongoing improvement rather than just a one-off fix.”
Get in touch with us
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help your business or have any questions about the support we can offer, then please get in touch.
