Bakery boss 'happy' with much-maligned pork pie

8 hours ago

Matt WeigoldDerby

News image — Birds Bakery said it had carried out quality checks after reading hundreds of negative comments online about its pork pie

BBC A large pork pie with a quarter cut out sits on a wrapper and plate in front of a bakery. The plate is being held be someone out of shot. The bakery has a large glass front and the maroon sign reads 'Birds Bakery.' There is a pavement and road sign beside it. — Birds Bakery said it had carried out quality checks after reading hundreds of negative comments online about its pork pie

The managing director of a bakery chain has insisted he is happy with their pork pies despite hundreds of fans taking to social media to say the bakery item had dipped in quality.

Pie fan Mike Dowd posted on the Pork Pie Appreciation Society Facebook page to say his pie from the Chaddesden branch of Birds Bakery was "nowhere near as good as they used to be" - prompting more than 400 comments.

Boss Jamie Bird said the firm had carried out quality checks after reading hundreds of negative comments online and was "happy with the product quality".

"We will always review our processes to make sure they match the standards that we expect and that's what we've done," he added.

A man in a white baker's coat, blue hairnet, glasses and a blue shirt is standing in a food preparation area. He has short dark hair and is wearing a microphone. Two people in the background are working on a food processing machine. There are large tubs, green lockers and white walls also in the background. — Jamie Bird insisted that their pork pie recipe, procedures and suppliers have not changed and is satisfied by the checks his team have made

Bird, who is the fourth generation of the family to run the company, said: "When we get complaints on any product, we take them seriously and we always investigate.

"Every week, every day, there are taste panels done before products are dispatched to make sure we are happy with the quality of the products that are going out."

He insisted the recipe and suppliers for the pie had not been changed.

Many of those who criticised the product online also complained about its £5.75 price tag, but Bird said customers were still getting value for money.

"We are there to try and offer the highest quality product at the best possible price," he said.

Bird said the bakery, which has 62 shops, faced challenges including dealing with inflation while investing in refurbishments and improvements.

He said despite this, the firm has worked to "protect the magic" of its legacy products such as the pork pie, sausage cob and caramel doughnut.

Three online complainants claimed the deterioration in standards was down to an influx of agency staff but Adam Thompson, head of bakery operations, said 99% of the 200 bakery staff were full-time employees.

The bakery said it had now advertised for a volunteer product taste tester to assist them with their feedback process.

In response, Dowd - who originally posted on social media about the pies - said: "I don't dispute the fact they haven't changed the recipe since 1919, but the ingredients must have changed."

"They were pretty tasteless. Hundreds of people seemed to agree with me."

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