Episode 1 Show Me What You're Made Of

So far, I've taken pampered British kids to three different continents,

seven countries and 20 factories and farms to show them

the hard work that goes into making their favourite things.

Now, Show Me What You're Made Of is coming home.

I want our five to see that hard work is also home-grown

and that there are people all over the country putting in the hours

to make the stuff that our kids rely on and to keep the country running.

Will our kids be shocked by the working world on their doorstep?

It genuinely brought, like, a tear to my eye.

-How could someone do this just like over and over?

-I hate cleaning!

If I have to do this for eight hours, I'll have a heart attack.

-Who takes the time to have a poo in a bus?

-Disgusting!

SHE SCREAMS

I'm no longer a 13-year-old boy. I'm the boss.

This is Show Me What You're Made Of UK.

Our five kids are candyfloss Kazia...

I don't ever think about where my stuff comes from, to be honest.

..boy in a bubble Josh...

I never do anything around the house

because I don't really see anything that needs to be done.

..stylista Hansa...

I do like being the centre of attention, I'm not going to lie.

..stubborn Safia...

When I don't get my own way, I tend to sulk

and I'm quite melodramatic about the whole thing,

I don't like not getting my own way.

..and bold and brash Noah.

I am a very self-confident guy!

To give these pampered teens their first taste of work,

I'm bringing them to a fruit farm in the New Forest,

where they grow one of our favourite foods - strawberries.

Last year in Britain, 400,000 tonnes of fruit was grown.

Over the next two days, our group are going to find out

what's involved in taking that fruit

from the farms and into the supermarkets.

'Can they cope with hard physical work...'

I don't like touching them. This is rank!

'..be as busy as bees...'

-Are you going to leave us?

-No, I'm not going to leave.

'..and impress their strict boss?'

Girls, that's it now.

That's the worst tray I've seen.

LAUGHTER

-Look, they're horses!

-They're cows!

'Just like the fruitpickers, our five aren't only working on the farm,

'they're living there, too.

'I've come ahead to check out their accommodation.'

So this is it, this is where our girls will be staying.

Another couple of beds there, quite a tight squeeze

and if anyone is really lucky, they get their very own bedroom.

Have a look at that!

'Up to seven workers stay in each caravan.

'It's a big difference from what our kids are used to back home.'

Hello! How are we all? Do you want to jump out?

-Are you all right, Noah?

-I'm good, thank you.

-Have you got your bits?

-Travelling nice and light. Are you all right?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

-Happy?

'Workers stay at the camp in summer and winter.

'So, what do the group think of their new home?'

Come on in! Come and have a look.

So, the boys, this is where you're going to be staying.

Go and have a look in your bedroom.

That's a bedroom? That's a box!

It is tiny.

Is it smaller than your room at home, then?

-This is about the size of my bed.

-This is like a wardrobe.

-What is the girls' room like?

-Girls, do you want to see your room?

Not particularly.

-What you think it smells of?

-It smells like my DT room.

Do you think you've got it in you

-to stay here for a couple of nights?

-Maybe.

-Yeah...

If you feel like you need your own space, there is another bedroom.

Oh...

-There is some dirt on the mattress.

-Ohhh!

-It's even worse.

Well, that was interesting.

I think it's fair to say that they're all quite surprised

at where they're going to be staying for the next couple of nights.

I think when we think of caravans, ordinarily,

we imagine staying in them

for a few weeks when we're on our summer holidays,

but the reality is that the workers here can live in these homes

for a very long period of time, up to 11 months of the year,

so they have to bear that in mind when they're at work tomorrow.

'But, after I leave, all they do is make a meal over pillows and sheets.'

Do we have to make our beds? Do we actually have to make them?

I hope not! I'll put a pillowcase on. Do you know what this is?

Is it a duvet cover?

'Next morning, 6am and all the other workers are up and off to work.

'But it's another hour before our five start to stir.'

-I'm really, really tired.

-I'm really cold.

-It's freezing!

'The girls have decided that, for their first day working on a farm,

'they need their war paint on.'

I do sometimes go out without it on, but very rarely.

I'm just going to be wearing foundation, concealer powder,

eyeliner, mascara.

-Hello! Morning, everyone! How are we all?

-Tired!

Oh, we're a bit sleepy this morning?

Well, unfortunately for you lot,

it doesn't matter how bad a night's sleep you have.

You've always got to work the next day.

So you've go to dig deep and find it in yourselves

to get yourselves psyched up, ready for your first full day's work.

STACEY LAUGHS Yaay(!)

Right, let's get a wiggle on.

'First up, it's time to meet the boss - farm owner Sandy.'

-Sandy, how do you do?

-Nice to meet you, Stacey.

Very, very nice to meet you. These are our five.

Welcome to the New Forest Fruit Company.

Each year, we'll pick over six million punnets of strawberries.

So, Sandy, am I correct in thinking that the strawberries

that they'll find here on your farm will be the exact same strawberries

-that ends up in the British supermarkets?

-Yes, exactly.

I might be tempted to eat them.

What happens if one of our kids eat the strawberries?

-Well, it's stealing.

-That is stealing.

-Will they be escorted off the premises?

-Oh, yeah. It's not on.

So, are we all right to have a quick look around?

Yeah, let's take a walk down the track.

All right, guys, do you want to follow Sandy?

'Covering an area the size of 113 football pitches...

'..the farm is one of the biggest strawberry producers in the UK,

'supplying two and a half thousand tonnes to British shops every year.

'To be this productive,

'the boss relies on committed, focused employees.

'In peak season, Sandy hires up to 500 workers

'and it's not long before the kids get to meet one - Denis.'

-Are you busy?

-Yeah, very busy.

-How long have you been working here?

-It's my sixth season year. Sixth year.

-Six years?

-Wow!

-And where are you from, Denis?

-Lithuania, a small Baltic country.

Eastern Europe.

We have lots of different nationalities working here -

Polish, which is the biggest one.

Then we have Romanian,

Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Belarusian.

'Workers come from all over Europe for jobs at the farm.

'The question is what will the boss think about his latest recruits?'

Please pay attention, especially when you're picking my berries.

Stanislaw, how many do you expect them to do within an hour?

-In an hour, they can pick two trays.

-Two trays? So two of these?

For people with experience, they pick around six or seven trays.

I'm totally ready for it. I want to get going. Yeah, beat the boys!

-Ah, ants in their pants! Yeah?

-Bring it!

-Yeah? Fighting talk!

So all the jewellery needs to come off, the nail varnish

needs to come off. All the make-up's got to come off, girls.

We got up early to do this!

I look so bad without make-up.

I don't want to take my make-up off!

I wear make-up every day, basically.

Yeah, my life is make up.

'Image-conscious Kazia spends a lot of time on looking good.'

All my friends and me are pretty much vain.

All the time, we're just like...

'And she doesn't just put in the hours.

'Kazia also spends lots of money on her appearance, too.'

My parents tell me all the time that I'm spoiled,

literally every single day.

But when I go shopping, I just get money off my mum,

just like, "Mum, I need some money!"

'Mum Zena thinks Kazia needs a home-grown reality check.'

I'm really looking forward to her going on this trip

and seeing what hardships people are under.

'Back at the farm, the make-up's off and the picking has begun.'

It's really hard to get them off.

'Picking strawberries correctly means selecting the bright red ripe ones,

'leaving a nice length of stalk and never, ever dropping them.

'The kids have each been set a target of two trays

'of perfectly picked strawberries in an hour.'

Whoa, that's big!

'That's just a third of what a normal worker can do.'

That's huge!

Listen, it's really important that you just hold the stalk.

Watch the ones behind you and not knock them, yeah?

That is literally my fifth one I've dropped.

'Strawberries bruise easily.'

-I'm so bad at this.

-'VERY easily.'

We are proving the girls are better than boys,

which didn't really need proving in the first place.

It's just a well-known fact.

Oh, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong.

-They're all wrong.

-That's wrong. You're wrong.

Cool beans! OK!

-They've actually done loads.

-How many did they do?

They've done loads. We need to speed up.

Guys, the thing is I've seen a lot of strawberries on the floor.

I've seen mucking about, I've seen a load of talking.

You know you're here to work.

-Yeah?

-Yeah!

-All right, girls, do me proud.

-We will.

-BOTH:

-Girl power!

Oh, my God!

'Workers here are expected to pick at least 1,000 strawberries every hour.

'They can only do this by being totally focused.

'But Kazia's more busy whingeing than picking.'

My nails hurt. And I want a hot chocolate.

And Saf is finding the repetition too hard to handle.

How could someone do this just over and over?

But we have to do it to pick strawberries.

'With all the girls messing and moaning...'

-Do you think I'm good?

-Well, whose tray is this?

-Mine.

-It's quite good.

-'..it's Noah who's storming ahead,

'quickly followed...'

-Put your tray on top of Noah's one.

-'..by Josh.'

What's been really interesting to watch is how the girls were certain

that they were going to really smash the boys in this task,

but actually it looks like the boys have done very well.

'Kazia eventually finishes a tray,

'but does her picking meet the boss's high standards?'

That's the worst tray I've seen, OK?

Kazia, I think you need to try and focus on what you're doing.

Don't worry about anybody else.

This is it. Don't worry about the boys.

If you'd like to take an empty tray and try again, that would be great.

-What you got here then, Saf?

-Stick that on top of here.

Let's have a look. Just a bit too long.

Just take them off, yeah?

So this one, for example.

Just a little bit... That's it.

There's a couple of bruising ones there, OK?

I feel really disheartened now

because he said mine was the worst out of all of them.

And I'm just like, "Oh, I can't be bothered."

That's the hour up so if you could

bring your trays up, please, that would be great.

'With Kaz and Saf ruining so much of his fruit,

'the boss decides to stop the work.'

Guys, that's it now.

Girls, your boss has asked you to bring your trolley up.

Girls, that's it now.

-Better late than never! Up you get.

-Watch your head, ladies.

'So, it's crunch time. Time for Kazia and Saf to face the music.'

I think the worst thing was two things, really, was the bruising

and the amount that they dropped on the floor, which is not acceptable.

This is a serious working environment

and I think a couple of you probably forgot that today.

Kazia, how do you feel you did today?

I think I totally let myself down, to be honest,

and I would do it completely different tomorrow.

I'm going to take it on totally differently.

OK, guys, so with all that said, you know how it works.

Some of you are going to be promoted and some of you demoted.

The two that are demoted...

-..is Kazia and Safia.

-Fair enough, girls?

-Yeah, fair enough.

-Saf, you don't look a happy bunny.

-A sad bunny.

-A sad bunny.

And the three who have been promoted is Noah, Joshua and Hansa.

-ALL SING:

-# Strawberries I'm collecting strawberries... #

'Noah's shone in the first task

'and he's making a big song and dance about it.'

# Strawberries We're collecting strawberries

# And no-one knows the rest of this song. #

Hey!

I think I let the competition get in the way a lot

because I kept looking over there

and I was wasting a lot of time by checking what they were doing.

I thought they had like machines that would do it.

I knew some were hand-picked,

but I thought the mainly done by machine, it was like a lot quicker.

Everyone could have focused more.

Everyone could've concentrated a little bit more

and everyone could've taken it a little bit more seriously.

I do think today has come

as a bit of a shock for our five, I've got to say.

None of them have done a day's work up until this point in their lives.

I think the two things that surprised them the most

is the fact that this job exists at all,

they all assumed it was done by machines

and the length of time that people tend to stay

so I want them to have a chat with the workers

who live on the campsite to find out more.

'I'm taking the promoted three to visit Daniel.

'He's worked at the farm for nine years

'whilst demoted Kazia and Safia meet the camp's manager Jakub,

'who has forged a career in strawberries

since moving from Poland ten years ago.

I started over there as a picker.

-I was doing exactly the same job as you did today.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

I was a picker for two years. Later on, they promoted me.

Sandy said that we, between the five of us,

we had dropped about four kilos.

For most of those people,

that is their only source of money for their family.

And if you waste the strawberries, waste the money,

you hurt not the company, you hurt your family.

I regret to say because people depend on this job

and we just kind of...

-wasted the day.

-Yeah.

-I feel so bad.

-I feel really bad now.

-Yeah.

I wouldn't say we're spoiled, but we're very privileged.

-Yeah, very privileged.

-Very privileged!

I feel really bad for dropping all those strawberries.

I feel terrible, but I'm going to go in tomorrow and...

-And be just like, "Yeah."

-Yeah, serious.

We're going to properly do it and make him proud.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, high five.

'Over at Daniel's, the kids are finding out

'just how important jobs here are for the workers.'

These three have been working where you work.

-They've been picking the strawberries.

-Wow, today?

-Uh-huh, their first ever day.

-It's good work?

-Hard work.

-Hard work!

Do you come from England or do you come from somewhere else?

I'm from Poland.

-TRANSLATION:

-I'm very happy to be in the UK.

To earn in Poland what I've earned in England

would take more than 30 years.

And you have family?

-TRANSLATION:

-A son and two daughters.

They are 12, five and three.

How often do you normally see them every year?

During a year, I see them three times.

I know what love is

and when you love somebody very much, you'll do anything for them.

It's a huge sacrifice, isn't it?

I would just miss my family too much.

I just don't think I'd be able to have the guts

in order to just never see my family

and I don't think I'd be able

to pick strawberries for nine years, either.

It's definitely put things into perspective.

I'm going to go tomorrow with a different work ethic

and I'm going to go in there and just try my hardest.

Some of the things that he said that he'd done in order to provide

a better life for them was just absolutely mad.

It genuinely brought a tear to my eye

and I try to be a man about things, so...

So it's the morning of day two

and our kids are getting ready for today's task.

As you can see, the weather is utterly horrific.

But when you're work in fruit farming, the show must go on.

I'm hoping after their conversations last night,

they approach today with a new-found energy.

'Last night, the girls promised they'd improve

'and there's certainly a spring in everyone's step

'when they learn they're not out working in the rain.'

Louder!

-ALL SING:

-# Strawberries I'm collecting strawberries

# And no-one knows the rest. #

'But the good mood doesn't last long for demoted Kaz and Saf.'

-Morning, girls.

-Morning.

So the job today which we have to do each week

is that all the strawberries that are on the floor

need to be picked up. Every single one.

-Once you get going, you'll be running up and down.

-OK!

I'm not joking.

-I will be watching so please, do not miss any on the floor.

-We won't.

-Let's go, let's do this.

-OK?

This is rank! This is disgusting. Eurgh!

Safia...

-Down there. It's there.

-That isn't even a strawberry.

No, that is a strawberry.

See that one, you see all that fur that's growing on there?

This is what we call botrytis

and if these little things get airborne,

they'll land back on the strawberries behind you

-and do the same thing to that so do you think it's fair?

-Nah.

Nah, so it's better that we put them in the bucket.

'Just one mouldy strawberry can ruin the entire crop.'

My back's probably hurting a bit.

'So it's crucial the greenhouse is totally cleared.'

It's icky and when you touch it, you can hear it go, "Squelch!"

Bleurgh!

Pick up one here again, please.

It's the second time I've told you,

-I don't want to have to tell you again, OK?

-I know.

'At home in Essex, you can forget about Saf helping out.'

Chores is like the evil word. I don't do them.

Safia doesn't help around the house at all, at all. Not at all.

If I didn't make the mess, I'm not going to tidy up.

'But this is one 12-year-old

'who thinks she can handle the world of work.'

I don't really know much about the factories in the UK.

If it's just repetitive stuff,

I don't think it'll be too hard once you get the hang of it.

'Unfortunately, mum Fathema isn't quite so sure.'

Once she realises, "This is it, I'm going to do this again

"and again and again for day after day after day,"

then she may start to look for distractions.

'Back at the farm, Fathema's predictions have come true.

'Safia's still complaining.'

I don't like touching them.

They're like white and furry and not like how strawberries should look.

It's disgusting.

Safia doesn't like this

and has got a real attitude about that and not picking them up.

Some jobs in life are not pleasant, but the jobs need to be done.

I feel bad for the people that have to do this

because it's just like really horrible work.

I don't think the other guys will have a job like this.

I think they'll have something nice and clean, maybe.

Clean, yes. But nice? Maybe not.

The group have been promoted to greenhouse management.

You wouldn't see any fruit in this glasshouse

-if it wasn't for what we've got in this box.

-Is it bees?

It's bees. Anybody scared of bees?

-I hate them.

-I don't like them.

Let's get these guys moved to where they need to go first.

Bees are used to pollinate the strawberry flowers,

causing the fruit to grow.

-But first, the bees must get used to their new home.

-Can I open it?

Absolutely, yes.

All you need to do, if you touch the bottom of this door

and just push it up as quickly as you can, all right?

I want to see both holes visible, OK,

that's when you know it's open enough. That's it.

And what you'll see now, the bees will make their way out slowly.

There's one, straight onto the camera. There he goes.

There's another one, OK? OK, so there's another one.

They're really flying near my face.

'They need to stand completely still so they don't aggravate the bees.'

Are you just trying to get them angry?

That's fine, just don't panic when they get near you.

-Are you going to leave us?

-No, I'm not going to leave you.

'To help the bees stay calm and relaxed...'

It's on my ear, make it go away. I don't like bees!

'..our promoted kids can't move a muscle.

'Unlike the demoted girls.'

-Keep going, you've still got another eight bays to go.

-Really?

I wasn't joking when I said in the beginning "running".

-I thought you were!

-No! No!

We've just got to get on with it now,

accept that we've got a demotion and accept it.

-How are they getting on?

-Not bad, not bad.

Kazia's got a much more positive attitude.

You're right, I'm having a quick look over now in Kazia's direction.

She hasn't stopped.

No, no, no, I think she doesn't want to be last.

-Kazia?

-Hi!

-Talk of the devil. How are you finding it? Tell me.

-It's really hard, actually. I'm proper sweating.

-Sweating?

-You broke a sweat, that means you're working hard.

-Yeah.

I am so pleased that Kazia has come

with a completely different approach today.

I think being demoted really upset her

and she just felt a bit embarrassed,

she doesn't want to have to go through that again.

Well done, ladies, you've really got the hang of this now.

-It's a good aerobic session, isn't it?

-I'm out of breath, seriously.

Really?

So, do you think you've done enough to impress your boss?

-I hope so.

-Hopefully.

-Maybe a promotion?

-I hope so.

-I hope so.

We'll have to wait and see. Fingers crossed, well done, girls.

I'm very proud. Good job.

'After a successful morning,

'the boss decides to bring the group back together for one final task.

'At the farm, up to two million strawberries get picked,

'packed and sent to the supermarkets every day.

'Any damaged fruit must be chucked and replaced by fresh berries

'until the punnet hits the correct weight and all at top speed.'

This is your work station, Joshua, so if you can step in there.

Saf...

'Can our group match this amazing efficiency and can Kaz and Saf

'continue their dramatic turnaround now they're really under pressure?'

You're on a live production line. Everything must tick like clockwork.

-Ready? Happy?

-Yep.

Go.

We'd expect at least six packs a minute

so let's see if anybody can achieve six packs a minute.

There's pressure!

'Bruised strawberries must be removed...'

Are you happy the quality is good enough?

Oh, no.

'..and fresh ones added to make up the correct weight.'

So that's accepted so then you can move that onto the line.

Oh, that's clever.

Your want to pick up your speed a little bit,

get into the swing of it.

-Botrytis.

-That was well spotted.

'Spending her morning handling rotten strawberries

'has given Saf all the motivation she needs.'

I really hated the second task, it was, like, disgusting.

It's made me realise that if I'm not serious about it,

I'm going to have to do that again.

When it comes to the rest of the factories,

I'm definitely going to beat the boys

and I'm going to be promoted each time.

'And Kazia is also desperate to end her time here on a high.'

I felt really bad yesterday and I wanted to redeem myself

and try really hard today.

Well, it's been a bit of a remarkable turnaround, I've got to say.

Kazia has done a complete 360 and Sandy is made up.

'The girls' attitudes may have improved,

'but another member of the team is racing ahead.'

Karina was telling me, Noah,

that you are working at double the speed of the others.

You are packing, on average, seven punnets per minute.

-That's quite good.

-That's fantastic!

I think it's from playing computer games,

you're used to moving your hands really quickly.

OK, guys, that is it. Time is up. Punnets down, please. Finished.

OK, Sandy and Karina are going to check your work,

I need you to come out nice and quick.

I'm going to catch you up in the boardroom. Off you come.

Down back to where you changed your clothes.

-Sandy, we'll see you in a few minutes.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

'So, it's time for some final words of wisdom and the final verdict.'

-Your workers are very precious to you.

-Yeah, yeah, very precious.

Necessary. And, Sandy, are all of your workers Eastern European?

Most of them, yes.

It's very difficult trying to get British people to work on the farm.

They see it as a dead-end job and it is not the case.

You know, I wouldn't have thought that people go round

and sort of hand-pick every single strawberry.

Most of the fresh produce industries are labour-intensive.

We have to make sure that people work

to the best of their abilities all the time.

Which moves us on nicely to our five workers.

Noah, Noah, Noah - how's Noah done?

Noah's probably, out of all of them, done very well.

-Noah is definitely switched on.

-Noah, what do you make of that?

I think it's quite good. It's always nice to get a bit of praise.

-How's Josh done?

-He just lacks that little bit of drive.

I think, next time, I'll try a lot harder and push myself a lot more.

What's your feedback for Hansa?

Yeah, just a bit more concentration.

-That's really all.

-Can you tell us how you think Saf has got on?

I think Saf, you were bottom two yesterday.

You came in today and you're still whingeing

about squidgy strawberries.

-I shouldn't really have heard about that.

-I tried harder

than I did yesterday, but I think the only one

where I actually proper got on with it was the last one.

-The packing task?

-Yeah, that was my favourite one.

Sandy, how has Kazia done?

Yesterday, no concentration whatsoever.

You were very obstructive. Very different today.

You were completely different. It was like chalk and cheese.

Yesterday, when we went to see Jakub,

I think that really changed it for me

because it shows how much this job was to him and shows how much

I kind of wasted it and I really wanted to redeem myself.

And isn't it nice to get praise instead of criticism?

Yeah, it's much better.

OK, guys, so let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

So, Sandy, who would you hire?

-So, Hansa, I would give a job to.

-Oh, thank you!

Would you offer our Noah a job?

-No.

-No?

-He's not 18.

I would offer Noah a job, definitely.

Kazia, would you hire her?

I'm not sure about that one.

-Yes, I would hire Kazia, sure.

-Wow!

-I'm shocked!

-OK. Well done, guys.

First factory - done.

'Next time on Show Me What You're Made Of...'

-Oh, I don't know what to do! Oh, pressure...

-I'm not happy.

-Kaz?

'Will it be a stitch up in the garments factory?'

-What's going on?

-I just can't do it!

'Or will the kids have the job all sewn up?'

I got a piece of paper that says I'm the boss.