Inside the Factory

Gregg Wallace looks into how one of Britain's largest bakeries makes up to one and a half million loaves of bread each week. They also look into the biggest flour mills in the country and take a look at the history of white bread.

Gregg Wallace is inside one of the largest Chocolate factories in York, it makes over 7 million chocolate bars a day. He follows to process from bean to bar. They also follow up on the history of chocolate.

Gregg Wallace, Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman look into the production of milk from the farm right through to the history. The get to know the high-tech ways milk gets from the cow to a bottle on your front step.

Gregg Wallace receives a load of corn off the boat from Argentina and follows its journey through the largest cereal factory in Europe. Cherry finds out about the Vitamin D added to our cereals and Ruth sits down to a Victorian breakfast.

Gregg Wallace follows 27 tonnes of potatoes from a farm in Hampshire through the largest crisp factory on earth, as they are peeled, sliced and fried to make more than five million packets of crisps every 24 hours.

Gregg Wallace helps to unload 27 tonnes of dried haricot beans from North America and follows them on a one and a half mile journey through the largest baked bean factory in the world.

Gregg Wallace explores the largest bicycle factory in Britain, which produces 150 folding bicycles every 24 hours.

Gregg Wallace helps to unload a tanker full of sugar from Norfolk and follows it through one of the oldest sweet factories in Britain.

Gregg Wallace joins a human production line in the largest sports shoe factory in the UK to see how they produce 3,500 pairs of trainers every 24 hours.

Gregg Wallace receives a load of tea leaves from Kenya and follows their journey through the factory. Cherry discovers the secrets of the tea leaf and Ruth investigates the history of 19th century tea selling trickery.

Gregg Wallace is in Italy, at the world's biggest dry pasta factory. Cherry Healey discovers why the best pasta is made with durum wheat. Historian Ruth Goodman discovers that pasta arrived in Britain much earlier than we imagined.

Greg Wallace investigates Europe's largest biscuit factory in London. While Cherry Healey looks into the chocolate added to the beloved digestive. Plus, Ruth Goodman examines the link between biscuits and digestion.

Gregg Wallace explores the Grimsby factory that processes 165 tonnes of fish a week and produces 80,000 cod fish fingers every day. Cod arrives at the factory as compressed blocks of frozen fish.

Gregg Wallace is in the Netherlands at one of the world's biggest sauce factories. Its annual output is a quarter of a million tonnes of condiments, and more than 50 per cent of this heads to the UK. Our passion for sauces sees us consume 40 million kilos of mayonnaise every year. Gregg follows its production from a farm near Arnhem, where 23,000 free range hens produce the eggs, to the factory, where he is wowed by an egg cracking machine that can separate the yolks and whites from 1,700 eggs a minute. In the mayonnaise factory 'kitchen' he discovers how the delicate process of combining oil and water - known as emulsification - is performed perfectly every time on huge 480 kilo batches. Meanwhile, Cherry Healey is making the glass jars Gregg needs for his mayonnaise. She is at a vast factory in Maastricht, where a furnace holding 250 tonnes of molten glass has been running continuously for the last 11 years. Cherry is also on the trail of another of our favourite sauces - soy - not in Japan, but south Wales, where a factory churns out bottles and sachets of organic sauce to a 2,000-year-old recipe. And the secret of its taste? A special mould called Koji. Historian Ruth Goodman discovers how Brits fell in love with mayonnaise. She traces it back to the introduction of the bottled sauce in the 1960s and samples a series of unusual mayonnaise dishes, including the 'frosted party loaf' - a glorified club sandwich covered in mayo and cream cheese. Ruth is also on the trail of Worcestershire sauce and investigates the traditional story of its origin, as told by Mr Lea and Mr Perrins.

Gregg Wallace explores Ribena's Gloucestershire factory. It turns 90 per cent of Britain's blackcurrants into soft drinks, producing three million bottles a week. Gregg takes delivery of 500 tonnes of blackcurrants at a cider mill in Somerset. The harvest comes in during July and August, when there are no apples to process for cider, so they press blackcurrants instead. Gregg discovers how the aroma of the blackcurrants is captured separately and later added back into the drink. Next, the concentrate and aromas are transported to the drinks factory, where they are mixed with 11 other ingredients before being bottled. Gregg watches a machine that can create a plastic bottle in 0.1 of a second and learns why nitrogen is the secret to creating a bottle that won't get stuck in vending machines. Cherry Healey is harvesting the berries on a farm in Kent - one of 40 that supply the factory. She also heads to the Netherlands to a plant that recycles plastics. It processes two and a half million used PET bottles a day, transforming them into 4mm pellets that can be turned back into drinks bottles. And Cherry is in the lab figuring out why fizzy drinks are so appealing. She learns that bubbles play sensory tricks on us, making fizzy drinks taste colder, less sweet and more flavourful than their still equivalents. Ruth Goodman is investigating the origins of fizzy drinks. Carbonated water was first sold by Mr Schweppe in 1783, but it was a British husband-and-wife team - Robert and Mary White - who were to popularise fizzy pop. In 1890, R White's styled itself as the world's biggest drinks company and they sold 46 million bottles a year. Ruth looks at why we associate barley water with the great British summertime.

Gregg visits the Nescafe freeze-dried factory in Derbyshire where they make 175,000 jars of instant coffee every day. Cherry studies how roasting affects the flavour. Ruth discovers how coffee led to the founding of the Stock Exchange.

Gregg Wallace explores the factory that makes 700,000 toilet rolls a day and Cherry Healey gets the bum deal of following a flush through the sewers.

Gregg Wallace explores a factory that produces 625,000 sausages a day and Cherry Healey gets the scientific lowdown on getting the best banger.

Gregg Wallace explores the Nottinghamshire factory that makes 250,000 jars of curry sauce each day. Meanwhile Cherry Healey is in Guntur, the chilli capital of India, where they sell 3,500 tonnes of chilli each day.

Gregg Wallace visits a factory which produces a staggering 2,000,000 tins of festive chocolate assortments a year. Cherry Healey travels to Germany where she joins a crew of ornament decorators, applying glitter and paint to glass Santas. In the UK, she goes behind the scenes at the Royal Mail as the Christmas stamps are printed. She also learns some skills for perfecting gingerbread whilst produces a gingerbread factory complete with biscuit versions of her co-presenters. Historian Ruth Goodman is on the trail of the Christmas turkey. She also comes face to face with the precursor to the pantomime dame - an 18th-century clown.

Gregg visits a factory in Lowestoft that produces 450 tonnes of frozen food each day. Cherry learns the difference between potato types. Ruth myth busts Walter Raleigh's connection to potatoes.

Gregg visits a huge pizza factory in Italy that produces 400,000 frozen pizza a day. Cherry asks if mozzarella is the best cheese to top a pizza and sees pepperoni being made. Ruth investigates the history of the freezer.

Gregg is in Burton upon Trent at Britain's biggest brewery. Cherry learns how 4 basic ingredients can be used to make such a wide range of beers. Ruth asks why Burton became the centre of British brewing.

Gregg Wallace is in Germany at a historic pencil factory where they produce 600,000 writing implements a day.

Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey get exclusive access to some of the biggest factories in Britain and Europe to follow the relentless production lines making our favourite products.

Gregg is at a huge factory in Stoke-on-Trent where they make 250,000 Cherry Bakewell tarts a day. Cherry learns how to avoid a soggy bottom when baking. Ruth sniffs out the origins of frangipane.

Gregg is at a clothing factory in South Shields where they make 650 wax jackets a day. Cherry learns about the science of staying dry. Ruth investigates the fishy history of waxed jackets.

Gregg is in France at an enormous croissant factory where they produce 336,000 flaky pastries a day. Cherry tests the best way to eat a croissant. Ruth is in Paris to investigate the Austrian origins of the croissant.

Gregg visits a mattress factory in Leeds that 600 beds a day. Cherry learns whether there are benefits to taking an afternoon nap. Ruth investigates the origins of the modern mattress.

Gregg visits a factory that produces 200,000 canapes every 24 hours. Cherry discovers the perfect way to cook a turkey and visits a candle maker. Ruth learns the origins of Christmas traditions.

The documentary series returns with Gregg visiting a huge bakery in Cornwall that makes 180,000 Cornish pasties a day. Cherry explores the wonderful world of the onion and Ruth debunks some common Cornish pasty myths.

Gregg visits an enormous foundry in northern France that produces a cast iron pot every five seconds. Cherry visits an iron ore mine in South Africa and Ruth learns how one-pot cooking evolved.

Gregg visits an enormous factory, which produces two million tins of soup a day. Cherry compares the vitamin content of fresh and frozen vegetables. Ruth cooks an early soup and learns about the first soup kitchen.

Gregg is in Ireland at a factory producing 450,000 bottles of cream liqueur a day. Cherry is at a plant where 85% of Ireland's bottles and jars are recycled. Ruth learns about the spiritual origins of liqueurs.

Gregg is in Essex, visiting a factory that produces 400,000 fruit and nut filled treats a day. Cherry is helping with the macadamia harvest in South Africa. Ruth learns about the origins of Kendal Mint Cake.

Gregg Wallace visits the world's biggest cider factory, which produces more than 350 million litres each year.

In the second episode of the series, Gregg Wallace visits a sock factory in Leicester that produces one and a half million socks annually.

Gregg Wallace visits a factory in rural Somerset that produces one million pots of yogurt every 24 hours, while Cherry Healey helps out with the UK's biggest blackcurrant harvest.

In this festive edition, Gregg visits the Woodmansterne card factory in Watford, one of the largest greeting card companies in the UK. Cherry creates a vegan Christmas feast and Ruth unwraps the story of the year Christmas was cancelled.

In the first episode of this supersized series, Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey get special access to a factory that makes as many as a hundred iconic yellow diggers every single day.

Gregg Wallace visits the largest malt loaf factory in the world, encountering a production line of massive dough mixing, mind-boggling tin filling and intensely hot baking.

Gregg visits the Ercol factory in Buckinghamshire to see production of a Windsor chair. Cherry looks at how sitting too much could be bad for our health. Ruth learns how furniture made during The Blitz still influences today's designs.

Gregg Wallace visits a boot factory in Wollaston, Northamptonshire to follow the production of a pair of Dr. Martens, while Cherry Healey gets to grips with the machines that make shoelaces.

Gregg Wallace visits the biggest tortilla factory in Europe, while Cherry Healey takes on the hottest chilli in the world and Ruth Goodman reveals how the Elizabethans treated their ruff collars.

Gregg visits the Denby factory in Derbyshire. Brits drink 195 million mugs of tea and coffee every day, so Gregg is following production of one of the factory's best sellers, the Halo Heritage mug.

Gregg visits a factory that churns out fifty thousand litres of dairy ice cream every day, while Cherry Healey enlists an ice hockey team to test the best methods of stopping brain freeze.

Gregg Wallace visits a huge vacuum cleaner factory in the heart of Somerset and follows their biggest seller, the Henry vacuum cleaner in bright red.

Gregg Wallace accesses huge factories that use extraordinary engineering processes to make our most iconic vehicle.

Gregg Wallace gets exclusive access to a factory that builds red London buses.

Gregg Wallace sees the production of Jaffa Cakes, while Cherry Healey goes to Jaffa, Israel, the region that lends its name to the Jaffa orange.

Gregg Wallace explores the Vale of Mowbray pork pie factory in Northallerton, Yorkshire, which began making pork pies in 1928. He visited the factory in May 2022, following production of their 75g snack-sized traditional pork pie.

Gregg Wallace visits the factory making 432 million crumpets every year. Crumpets are a British classic made from a precise combination of ingredients, using some clever chemistry to create their famous 'holey' texture.

Gregg Wallace visits a Yorkshire team that churn out up to 90,000 vegan sausages a day. Heck have been making these bangers since 2018, and the process is surprisingly futuristic.

Gregg Wallace explores the Ambrosia factory in Lifton, Devon, to reveal how it makes up to 360,000 rice puddings every single day.

Gregg visits the Polo mint factory in York, Cherry gets a tour of the biggest sugar beet factory in Europe.

Gregg Wallace steps inside a huge Yorkshire puddings factory in Hull to learn how Aunt Bessie's produces a staggering 500 million Yorkshire puddings every year.

Gregg Wallace visits a jelly beans factory in Dublin to reveal the astonishing processes used to make ten million of these colourful little sweets every day.

Gregg Wallace visits two factories in Italy and Wales to learn how denim cloth is made and then transformed into one of the world's most popular items of clothing - jeans.

Gregg Wallace explores the Dell Ugo factory in Hertfordshire to reveal how it makes 500 million stuffed pasta parcels every year. He's following production of one of their best sellers, crab and crayfish raviolo.

Greg visits the Guinness factory in Ireland while Cherry visits a farm that produces Hops. Ruth looks into the history of Irish pubs.

Gregg visits a factory to learn how their fragrant, fizzy bath bombs are made. Cherry sees that although not an alternative, baths do have benefits of exercise.

Gregg takes us through the Axminster carpet factory allowing us to see how their carpets are made. Cherry learns how raw wool becomes yarn.

The staff visit the Nestlé factory following how one of it's most popular chocolate bars is made. We also learn how the cocoa plant is being studied as to not to become extinct & the history of chocolate as a drink.

Gregg follows the process a complex 2 seater couch/sofa goes throug & Cherry learns the importance of ambience lighting

A special from the 'Inside factory' team. Greg Wallace goes to Mr Kipling to see how mince pies are produced. Cherry Healey visits a wrapping paper factory and Ruth Goodman explores the history behind our festive treats.

In this Christmas special, Gregg Wallace, Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman explore the fascinating factory processes and surprising history behind favourite festive treats. Gregg follows 24 hours of production at a cake factory in Oldham, near Manchester, where they make two million Christmas cakes for Marks and Spencer. As he helps to mix dried fruit and spices, Gregg discovers the challenges of producing 480 perfect cakes every hour. He also attempts to prepare some of the 300,000 handmade decorations made from 150,000 tonnes of icing sugar, with very messy results. Meanwhile, Cherry is given special access to Britain's largest marzipan factory, which produces two thousand tonnes of almond paste every year, and visits one of our largest sprout farms where, during the two weeks before Christmas, they pick 190 million sprouts. She also travels to Somerset to discover how 80,000 bottles of brandy are distilled from cider apples and gets hot under the collar attempting to blow a glass Christmas bauble. Ruth Goodman adds her own Christmas revelations by investigating how early industrial heritage inspired Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol, and why Christmas tree lights are called fairy lights.

The COVID-19 crisis caused a massive spike in the sales of tinned goods, and the baked beans factory upped production to deliver almost 50 million cans in just one month

Gregg Wallace reconnects with the McVitie's factory in Harlesden, London, who sold an astonishing 12.5 million packets in just two months during the coronavirus crisis.

In episode three, Gregg reconnects with the Walkers crisps factory in Leicester, the largest crisp factory in the world, which he visited back in 2016.

Gregg reconnects with the Typhoo tea factory in the Wirral. The coronavirus crisis caused tea bag sales to soar, and the factory has upped production to produce 109 million tea bags in a week.