0:00:06 > 0:00:09'We've become a nation of supermarket shoppers.'
0:00:09 > 0:00:14We buy a staggering 90% of our food from supermarkets.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Not everyone's a supermarket fan, but we do rely on them
0:00:20 > 0:00:23to give us the food that we want when we want it.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Now, that is a huge challenge,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and I want to find out how the supermarkets do it.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Whoa-ho-ho-ho!
0:00:34 > 0:00:39'I'm going behind-the-scenes with Britain's biggest food retailers.'
0:00:39 > 0:00:41This may be the nuttiest thing I've ever seen!
0:00:41 > 0:00:47'I've got exclusive access to discover how they source...'
0:00:47 > 0:00:48Let's grill one.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49'..how they make...'
0:00:49 > 0:00:52No! Slow it down, please.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56..and how they move our food on an epic scale!
0:00:56 > 0:00:58HE LAUGHS
0:00:59 > 0:01:00'It's a massive operation.
0:01:00 > 0:01:06'It runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10'I'll be tracking it season by season...
0:01:11 > 0:01:14'..starting with summer and the things we buy
0:01:14 > 0:01:15'when the weather looks up.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19'I'll find out why there's more
0:01:19 > 0:01:22'than meets the eye in a supermarket strawberry...'
0:01:24 > 0:01:27- This tunnel here is about an hour's worth of sales.- Wow!
0:01:27 > 0:01:29'..what it takes to bring us our barbecues...'
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Back of the net!
0:01:32 > 0:01:34'..and I discover how the supermarkets
0:01:34 > 0:01:37'know what we're going to buy before we do.'
0:01:37 > 0:01:41We enter weather data in three times a day,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43because weather really affects what people buy.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Supermarkets have a huge influence over our everyday lives.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53But exactly how they bring us our food has been hidden, until now.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Britain's first supermarket
0:02:04 > 0:02:08opened in Streatham, London, in 1951.
0:02:10 > 0:02:16Since then, they've multiplied and become part of our landscape.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Over 18,000 stores now populate
0:02:20 > 0:02:22every corner of the UK.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27I've been in the food industry all of my working life,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30from wholesale greengrocer, to running a restaurant.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34But, I don't know the supermarket world, except as a customer.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38And, in my time, I've seen them go from small grocers to
0:02:38 > 0:02:40multi-million pound businesses
0:02:40 > 0:02:42and I want to know what makes them tick.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44# Da da da de da de da
0:02:44 > 0:02:45# Du de da da da da... #
0:02:45 > 0:02:49And summer is where I want to start.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53British summertime can be an unpredictable beast, but when
0:02:53 > 0:02:57the sun shines, we want barbecues and picnics and we want 'em now.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01The supermarkets are under serious pressure
0:03:01 > 0:03:04to deliver our summer favourites.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08There is one product that is right at the centre of the supermarkets'
0:03:08 > 0:03:12summer battleground and it's this little fellow,
0:03:12 > 0:03:13the humble strawberry.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18In the summer months, demand for strawberries rockets.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21We buy 20 million of them a day.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25And the supermarkets know we buy more if they're the right size,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28they have no bruises and are sweet and juicy.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32So, what is the secret to giving us
0:03:32 > 0:03:35the strawberries that we're looking for?
0:03:38 > 0:03:43'For a start, you need colossal fruit farms, like this one in Kent.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46'It's six o'clock on a summer's morning
0:03:46 > 0:03:48'and this place is already buzzing.'
0:03:50 > 0:03:52I'm involved in strawberry growing
0:03:52 > 0:03:54and I've been a greengrocer for many, many years,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56so I'm used to early mornings.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57And these polytunnels, well,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59they're just a part of modern growing.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03But how do you grow millions and millions of berries?
0:04:06 > 0:04:09'I'm here to meet Sainsbury's technical manager for fruit and veg,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13'Simon Hinks, a man with a lot on his plate.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16'He looks after billions of pounds worth of produce.'
0:04:16 > 0:04:20This is a serious amount of strawberries.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Hello, Simon. How are you doing?
0:04:22 > 0:04:24- Hello, Gregg.- You head up the technical team.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26- I do, indeed.- You know all about strawberries.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Customers love strawberries.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30In the middle of summer, they're still our number one product.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32So we're selling millions of punnets every week.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Number one product, what do you mean?
0:04:34 > 0:04:36It's our biggest price at Sainsbury's.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38- You're kidding me?- Absolutely.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41- What, in terms of money taken? - Correct.
0:04:41 > 0:04:42Oooh.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44- So it is serious... - It's big business.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47This tunnel here is about an hour's worth of sales.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Wow, that's a really good way of looking at it.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54- So, right now, I'm in about 30 seconds.- Approximately.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- Every 30 seconds, this many strawberries go?- Absolutely.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00- That is crazy! - Gregg, it's a huge scale.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06'When strawberries are shifting off the shelves that fast,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08'you need to keep 'em coming.'
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Let's have a go.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12- I'll take the left, you take the right, yeah?- OK.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15'And, to give them as long a British strawberry season as possible,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18'the supermarkets need different varieties.'
0:05:18 > 0:05:22We're currently using, through the British season, 14 different varieties.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Those that deliver loads of fruit in June, when we really want it,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27and those that deliver fruit throughout the season.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33'June is when our strawberry habit peaks, helped on by Wimbledon.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36'So Simon is on a mission to find a better variety that
0:05:36 > 0:05:39'delivers in this crucial month, one he hopes will give him
0:05:39 > 0:05:41'the edge over his competitors.'
0:05:41 > 0:05:43I've got a great strawberry I'd like to show you.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46- You're a bit excited about this, aren't you?- I am.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48- Do you talk to your wife about strawberries?- A lot.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51- Does she think you're a little bit weird?- Very.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Have you ever thought about phoning Strawberries Anonymous?
0:05:54 > 0:05:56I think I probably should, actually.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58'So, the next stop for me
0:05:58 > 0:06:02'and Simon the strawberry addict is East Malling Research.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06'Places like this are a secret weapon of the supermarkets.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'They develop new varieties of everything,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12'from soft fruit to pears and potatoes.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15'Strawberries get a lot of investment
0:06:15 > 0:06:17'because they're such a big earner.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'Sainsbury's alone spend millions of pounds every year on them.'
0:06:22 > 0:06:25- This place is full of... - Professors, scientists, doctors,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28real centre of knowledge.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32'Simon's go-to man when he wants a new strawberry
0:06:32 > 0:06:34'is Dr David Simpson.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39'He's spent the last 30 years developing different varieties,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42'and he's come up with Simon's great new hope.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:48And here we have the big secret, the Malling Centenary.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51It looks like the other strawberries.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53I think it looks beautiful.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Yes, but we know that you may be slightly touched.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56I am slightly biased.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00- We've been working on this for eight years.- Eight years?
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Yeah, eight years.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10It's a painstaking process to create new varieties.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12'They breed their best-performing strawberries
0:07:12 > 0:07:15'with each other by transferring pollen from the flower of one
0:07:15 > 0:07:17'variety to the flower of another.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23'When the new berry grows, they take its seeds and grow new plants
0:07:23 > 0:07:26'from them, and then they do the same thing again,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28'and again,
0:07:28 > 0:07:29'and again.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35'It's taken eight years and 13,000 plants to get a strawberry
0:07:35 > 0:07:37'with the qualities they want.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41'It's a process David's very familiar with.'
0:07:41 > 0:07:45My first job was to extend the strawberry season and,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47at that time, it was six weeks
0:07:47 > 0:07:49and I was told to extend it to eight weeks.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52It's now about seven months.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55- May, June, July, August, September, Octo...- Yeah.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57You're not getting strawberries into November?
0:07:57 > 0:07:59End of October, definitely.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00'Crikey!
0:08:00 > 0:08:03'Personally, I prefer eating fresh produce
0:08:03 > 0:08:05'in the season that nature intended,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08'but we've been stretching seasons since farming began.'
0:08:09 > 0:08:12I mean, I eat a phenomenal number of strawberries during the summer.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Probably two kilos a day, Monday to Friday, something like that.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Mate, you...
0:08:17 > 0:08:19It's a lot of strawberries to eat.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21You must poo a bucket of pips every night.
0:08:21 > 0:08:22LAUGHTER
0:08:22 > 0:08:24No, you adapt to it.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28'But the Malling Centenary is not there yet.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31'Here in the lab, it has to pass a battery of tests to check
0:08:31 > 0:08:35'whether it can hold its own on the supermarket shelves.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40'Today it's being assessed for taste, texture and durability.
0:08:40 > 0:08:41'First up, taste.'
0:08:42 > 0:08:47What we can do here is put a little drop of strawberry juice on there.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51'Sugar levels are measured using a bit of kit
0:08:51 > 0:08:53'called a refractometer.'
0:08:53 > 0:08:56- You're making it up.- Point it towards the light over there.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00'Sainsbury's want them to score above 7% sugar content.'
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Yeah, you've got about...
0:09:04 > 0:09:06..seven-ish.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09- Between seven and eight, I think, that one.- Yeah, very good.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11'It's a precise target.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13'We prefer sweeter varieties,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16'but strawberry plants can only produce a certain amount of sugar.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18'The sweeter the strawberry,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21'the fewer you tend to get from each plant.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24'There's a trade-off between taste and quantity.'
0:09:25 > 0:09:27- This is a balancing act, isn't it, all the time?- Yeah.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31'Next, its texture.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35'If the strawberry's too hard, no-one will want eat it.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37'They test it using something called a penetrometer.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40'Ow!'
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Wahey, I do like the look of that.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45'Finally, have these berries got bounce?
0:09:45 > 0:09:48'They need to be tough enough to withstand being transported
0:09:48 > 0:09:52'halfway round Britain and still turn up looking their best.'
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Why is it so important to you that the strawberries turn up
0:09:56 > 0:09:57looking like they've been painted.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59What's wrong with us?
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Don't we like one that's a bit different shaped,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03maybe a little softer?
0:10:03 > 0:10:06If there's any point in the supply chain where there's a bit of damage or bruising,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09it'll deteriorate really quickly and it's not going to look so good.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10It simply won't last as long.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16'Now, I've got one extra test -
0:10:16 > 0:10:18'the Wallace taste test.'
0:10:28 > 0:10:30See, I don't know whether...
0:10:30 > 0:10:32I'm just going to be completely honest, right?
0:10:32 > 0:10:34That is actually a damn fine strawberry.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38'But it's not me they've got to convince.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41'These strawberries still have to face their biggest challenge yet.'
0:10:41 > 0:10:43The really important hurdle now to pass is
0:10:43 > 0:10:45the general public in the taste test.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47They're going to be the ones that decide
0:10:47 > 0:10:49"Does this strawberry go onto the shelf?"
0:10:49 > 0:10:51So, honestly, honestly, if they don't like it,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53all that work's just up the Swanee?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Well, it means we have to go back to the drawing board
0:10:55 > 0:10:58- and develop a different strawberry. - I tell you, that's pressure.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Well, I'd no idea there was that much going on behind the scenes,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07but that's because they're trying to produce a strawberry that
0:11:07 > 0:11:10tastes OK, you can transport halfway round the country
0:11:10 > 0:11:12and it will last for over a week.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14I mean, a better-flavoured strawberry
0:11:14 > 0:11:17would be a soft one that rots a lot quicker.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19But that's not how we shop any more, is it?
0:11:19 > 0:11:22'We'll be back to see how this little fella
0:11:22 > 0:11:25'fares against some of the fruitiest palates in Britain.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:40What we buy is hugely influenced by the weather,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42and no more so than in summer.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44When the sun comes out,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48our food shopping habits change just as quickly as our outfits do.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52The barbie comes out and we go mad for meat.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56A ten degree rise in the temperature
0:11:56 > 0:12:00sees a 300% increase in the sales of burgers and sausages.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04And we want salads.
0:12:04 > 0:12:0845% more lettuce and 50% more coleslaw.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12Sales of ice cream absolutely rocket.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15But only until the temperature gets to 25 degrees.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19When it gets hotter, we all start buying lollies to quench our thirst.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Soft drink and lager sales go through the roof,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24but we still have a favourite hot drink.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29The British public, they cut down on coffee and they turn to tea.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32And we want to look our best, as well.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36I mean, it's not really my thing,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39but apparently sales of hair removal products
0:12:39 > 0:12:42go up by an enormous 1,400%.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46We all know how unpredictable a British summer can be but
0:12:46 > 0:12:47as soon as the sun comes out,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50we expect to have these products already on our shelves.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54So, how do the supermarkets stay one step ahead of the weather?
0:12:56 > 0:12:59The secret is prediction programming.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Crack teams of data analysts use supercomputers to build
0:13:02 > 0:13:04a model of exactly what we'll buy when.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07'Treeva Fenwick from Tesco is going to show me
0:13:07 > 0:13:09'how accurate these forecasts can be.'
0:13:13 > 0:13:18We've got five years worth of historical sales data in there,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20so for every single product, for every store,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22for every day of the week.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26And what we do, is we enter weather data in three times a day,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29because weather really affects what people buy.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32And it crunches all the numbers, does the sums
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and what it comes up with is a really accurate way of forecasting.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39So, this computer is analysing every single line on the shelf,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42depending on what time of year it is, what the weather's going
0:13:42 > 0:13:45to be like and what events may occur?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47- Yeah, in every store.- In every store?
0:13:47 > 0:13:49- Cos it's different in every store?- Of course.
0:13:49 > 0:13:5290 million sums a day, this computer does.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54I don't care how big your computer is,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56it's never going to be absolutely bang on.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58The accuracy is quite surprising, actually.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01If you look at this ice-cream forecast,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04that's what we forecast over three months and, you can see,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06it tracks almost identically with what we sold.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09- The blue one is the forecast, the red one is the actual?- Yes.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11- And it's virtually bang on.- Yeah.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13You guys are a little bit scary.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15It's the change of the weather.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18So, for example, if you've had the fifth weekend in a row that's
0:14:18 > 0:14:2125 degrees and lovely, you won't see a big peak in demand.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24But it's the customers' first experience of that weather
0:14:24 > 0:14:25is where you see the real spike.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27And, actually, that can alter,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31depending on which parts of the UK or the British Isles that you're in.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35So, for example, in Scotland what we find is that barbecue buying
0:14:35 > 0:14:37might be triggered at about 20 degrees Celsius,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40but in the South, it might be 24 degrees Celsius.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Could you tell me who's going to win in the 3.30 up Haydock?
0:14:43 > 0:14:45SHE LAUGHS Wish I could.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Well, there you have it.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51The whole thing is controlled by one vast supercomputer.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53But you know what amazes me?
0:14:53 > 0:14:56I thought my shopping was purely on impulse,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59but the supermarkets already knew I was going to do it.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12'So one of the things many of us do in summer is light the barbecue.'
0:15:14 > 0:15:15Over the last ten years,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Britain has become the barbecuing capital of Europe.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22We now average over 120 million barbecues a year!
0:15:22 > 0:15:25I've come to a barbecue festival in Brighton
0:15:25 > 0:15:27to find out why we love them.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32How did your barbecuing start and what's it like now?
0:15:32 > 0:15:35My barbecuing started by getting the cheap meat from the supermarket
0:15:35 > 0:15:38and going and sitting in a park with a big bottle of cider.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39LAUGHTER
0:15:39 > 0:15:42And now it's sort of moved onto maybe
0:15:42 > 0:15:44I do cook a bit more properly, I make my own burgers.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Where are you from, sir?
0:15:47 > 0:15:49I'm originally from the United States, North Carolina.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52What's a North Carolina barbecue, as opposed to a British barbecue?
0:15:52 > 0:15:54You slow cook the meats,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56you season them, you roast them. It's delicious.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59You are such show offs, aren't you, you Americans?
0:15:59 > 0:16:01- Yes, we are. - Such show-offs, aren't you?
0:16:01 > 0:16:04If I had hair, that's how I'd have it.
0:16:04 > 0:16:05LAUGHTER
0:16:06 > 0:16:08More and more of us are having barbecues
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and we're getting more adventurous in what we cook and,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15of course, the supermarkets, they can see an opportunity.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19The supermarkets are keen to sell us shortcuts to barbecuing success,
0:16:19 > 0:16:24but making our lives simpler turns out to be a complicated task.
0:16:24 > 0:16:25THUNDER RUMBLES
0:16:26 > 0:16:28RAIN POURS
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Jonathan Moore is Waitrose's executive chef.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37He's been charged with creating a new barbecue range, something a bit
0:16:37 > 0:16:42adventurous that might persuade us to upgrade from burgers and chicken.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45And he's picked a typical British summer's day to do it.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Probably, between us all, 20, 25 years of cooking
0:16:48 > 0:16:51and this is the first time we've done this, really.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54So it's British, it's summertime, why not?
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Since the 1990s, most of the major supermarkets have
0:16:59 > 0:17:03taken on chefs to develop their own brand products.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Jonathan has worked in Michelin star restaurants, but today
0:17:08 > 0:17:12he's swapped his kitchen for a bit of concrete in front of company HQ.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14What better place to be?
0:17:14 > 0:17:18I'm in Bracknell, in the rain, by the side of a busy motorway.
0:17:18 > 0:17:19What a great place to be(!)
0:17:21 > 0:17:24This is actually the start of a nine-month process to get
0:17:24 > 0:17:25a new barbecue range to the shelves.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29They've been scouring the globe to find
0:17:29 > 0:17:32the best barbecue dishes and techniques.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38At the moment, barbecue predominantly is about grilling.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41So we cook over charcoal, we cook over direct heat.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44But today, we're going to look at smoking and preserving
0:17:44 > 0:17:47and cooking food in the ground, things like that.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50We keep going back to "What if?"
0:17:50 > 0:17:53So, what if we tried this, what if we did this?
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Or what if we tried this different way of cooking the meat?
0:17:55 > 0:17:59If you don't experiment, you end up with what you've always had before.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Now, to most of us, hot smoking, cooking underground
0:18:04 > 0:18:06and wrapping our dinner in a muslin cloth
0:18:06 > 0:18:08are well beyond our kitchen skills.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11So Jonathan sees a market for fancy dishes you just
0:18:11 > 0:18:14finish off on the barbecue.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16It's almost like having a chef at home.
0:18:16 > 0:18:17We're doing the complicated bit.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20We're doing the "This is how you cook it" bit,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22so you're finishing off at home.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25OK, everybody. We're going to start. Do you want to gather round...
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Before the public get a sniff of his eccentric cooking, he's trying
0:18:28 > 0:18:32them out on developers, technicians and buyers from Waitrose.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36This is really a whistle-stop tour.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38So we're going to start in New Zealand.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39It's a body!
0:18:39 > 0:18:41At this stage of the game,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44nothing too exotic or complicated is ruled out.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47First up is a shoulder of pork cooked on heated rocks
0:18:47 > 0:18:51and ash and then buried in the sand.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54What we would look at from this is not necessarily trying to
0:18:54 > 0:18:57build big sandpits in people's gardens. That's not the idea.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01This is about simply retaining all the best bits of the meat.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Next, they're in the US,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09smoking ribs with a North Carolina dressing.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Then it's off to Japan for chicken skewers.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17They're all having loads to eat. Fantastic.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20LAUGHTER
0:19:20 > 0:19:24For a wet and windy day, there's a lot of blue sky thinking going on.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27But would any of these dishes appeal to the public
0:19:27 > 0:19:31and is the supermarket able to produce them on a mass scale?
0:19:35 > 0:19:36In a few weeks' time,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Jonathan will have to get down to business with the buying team.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42We'll find out later what happens
0:19:42 > 0:19:45when his ambitious creations get a reality check.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57We get through a lot of meat in barbecue season.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Between June and August, we buy nearly 60,000 tonnes of beef
0:20:01 > 0:20:05from the supermarkets and we love our steaks.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07We eat 55 million of them in the summer.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Whenever we pick a steak up out of the shop, we expect it to
0:20:15 > 0:20:18look good, taste good and we expect it to remain fresh.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22We all know raw meat is a tricky thing to handle,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24so how do the supermarkets do it?
0:20:26 > 0:20:28Whoa-ho-ho-ho!
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Oh, my word! Is this all beef?
0:20:30 > 0:20:32This is all beef.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36- You see the beef of 4,500 cattle. - My word!
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Scotbeef process hundreds of thousands of
0:20:39 > 0:20:42beef and lamb carcasses a year for the supermarkets.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Chief Executive Robbie Galloway produces meat for the masses.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Our total stock we would hold for our business
0:20:50 > 0:20:52would be approximately £9 million.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55You've got £9 million worth of cow in here?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- And this is only one shed. - This is only one chamber.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01- We've got two other chambers. - You're kidding?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04You are kidding? There's not that many cows in the world!
0:21:05 > 0:21:07The next stage is all about speed.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09'Robbie's challenge is that,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12'as soon the meat leaves this giant chiller,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14'it starts to deteriorate faster
0:21:14 > 0:21:18'so it's a race against time to process it as quickly as possible.'
0:21:22 > 0:21:24My word! What is this?
0:21:24 > 0:21:26This is our main butchery, Gregg.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27'It's not just about speed.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32'Robbie's 50 butchers also have to be incredibly accurate.'
0:21:32 > 0:21:35- I would have thought that they'd have been machine cut.- No.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Most of our steaks are hand butchered.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39We get that because we've got skilled butchers.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44They can cut steaks to fixed weights of 200 grams a steak.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48They've all got to cut 200 grams every time?
0:21:48 > 0:21:49That's the secret.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52If they cut over 200 grams, then we call it "giveaway", and it can
0:21:52 > 0:21:56cost the company thousands and thousands of pounds a week.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00'200 grams is a typical steak portion across the supermarkets.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03'It's a good thickness for cooking.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05'Any thinner, and it could easily burn.'
0:22:06 > 0:22:08So, would you like to have a shot?
0:22:08 > 0:22:10- Really?- Yes.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12- Have a shot and see how good you are.- I'd love to have a go.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Gregg, here's your fob.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18GREGG LAUGHS
0:22:18 > 0:22:20200 grams.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27- Rubbish.- No, rubbish.- Rubbish.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29- Ain't that funny?- Have another shot. Have another shot.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37No!
0:22:38 > 0:22:39Oh, it's getting worse!
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Whoa!
0:22:45 > 0:22:47Whoa-ho-ho! Back of the net!
0:22:48 > 0:22:50How much do you think I would have cost the firm?
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Well, you probably wouldn't be allowed to do the job
0:22:53 > 0:22:54for very long - cutting that range.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00I made a right mess of that, but these guys are like human scales.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02They cut at least 500 steaks a day.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06No matter how fast these guys cut, though,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09the steaks are still losing freshness all the time.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12But they found a way to slow down the decay.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16The next step of the process is to get them packed as quick as we can.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20The steak goes into a pack, it gets vacuum-packed.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23This is a new form of packing we've started doing.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24It's called skin wrap.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28'You might have noticed your meat being packaged differently.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32'The supermarkets started skin-wrapping meat around 2000.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35'They vacuum pack it to get rid of the oxygen.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38'It's oxygen that gives meat its red colour,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40'what we've always seen as freshness.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43'But, actually, oxygen causes meat to go off.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46'It makes fats go rancid and helps bacteria grow.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51'Removing it keeps the steaks fresh for longer,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53'but it does turn them purple,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57'the colour they were before being exposed to the air.'
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Here's the finished pack.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00Look, I love steaks like that,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03but people aren't used to buying them purple.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06That's how meat looks after the oxygen has been taken away.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Naturally. I think there's lots of benefits.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11We get more shelf life, 40% more shelf life, which is
0:24:11 > 0:24:13good for the customer and the retailer.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17It's worth remembering that the next time you're shopping for steak,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20the bright red one is deteriorating
0:24:20 > 0:24:22far faster than the purple one.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38Earlier, I met Sainsbury's fruit and veg technical manager, Simon Hinks.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42He's on a mission to find a new variety of our summer favourite,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44the strawberry.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Today, his berry is about to face a crucial test.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50I've come to a food research centre in Gloucestershire,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53where Simon's strawberry will face a customer taste panel.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Eight years it's taken to develop
0:24:55 > 0:24:57this strawberry for the supermarket
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and, today, the British public might decide that that strawberry
0:25:00 > 0:25:02never ever makes it onto the shelf.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04There's actually a lot of hush-hush work
0:25:04 > 0:25:06that goes on in this establishment.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09This is where the supermarkets send their produce to be
0:25:09 > 0:25:10trialled against the competition.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Please press the light...
0:25:12 > 0:25:17The fate of Simon's strawberry lies in the hands of these people.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23- Simon.- Morning, Gregg, how you doing?
0:25:23 > 0:25:25How are you doing, moreover?
0:25:25 > 0:25:26Very good, very good.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29So, this strawberry today is going to get tested and its results
0:25:29 > 0:25:31are going to be compared to lots of others.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33We'll compare it to the whole market.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Whoa! And how well has this strawberry got to score?
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Where has it got to come in the league table?
0:25:38 > 0:25:40There's no point in replacing a good strawberry
0:25:40 > 0:25:43with the same kind of level of strawberry. This needs to be better.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Quite simply, if they don't like it, we're not going to launch it.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50It's either "Abort, abort!" or it's, "Go, go, go!"
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Absolutely right. It's an exciting day, isn't it?
0:25:52 > 0:25:54It is. It really is.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56And this thing looks so innocent.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58You wouldn't think that all this goes behind the background
0:25:58 > 0:26:01of just simply getting a new strawberry onto the market.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Have you any idea how much trouble you've caused?
0:26:04 > 0:26:07'Most products we eat from the supermarkets have been
0:26:07 > 0:26:08'through a similar process.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12'Around 20% of new products fail at this stage.'
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Well, I know a thing or two about tasting
0:26:16 > 0:26:19and taste is a very subjective business.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21So, how do you take something so subjective
0:26:21 > 0:26:23and make it scientific?
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Well, first of all, you have to control the environment that
0:26:26 > 0:26:29the testers work in, so the colour is completely neutral.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Even the lighting is very stark. No smells.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35They extract all the odours and the temperature
0:26:35 > 0:26:38and humidity has got to stay constant.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Even the questionnaire itself is designed not to lead
0:26:40 > 0:26:42the testers in any way.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50And the next thing you need to control, of course, is your testers.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Now, they're not allowed to eat spicy food or drink coffee.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55They're not even allowed to wear perfume or aftershave.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59And, if they're feeling unwell or they're on medication,
0:26:59 > 0:27:00they're not allowed to test.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06'But I think there's only one person feeling unwell at the moment.'
0:27:06 > 0:27:10You look like a man who's expecting his first baby.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12It feels a little bit like that, if I'm honest.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14You're sort of sitting thinking,
0:27:14 > 0:27:15"This is a really big moment,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19"it's a really important moment, and it's out of my hands."
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Running the tests is consumer test manager Janetta Hylands.
0:27:24 > 0:27:25Cool.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28You've got a load of people behind there munching strawberries, haven't you?
0:27:28 > 0:27:30We have, we have.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32But they're not any old people.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34They are what we call naive consumers.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36So people from the street.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40They're selected because of their age, or their gender,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44- or their shopping or purchasing habits.- What do you try to do?
0:27:44 > 0:27:46- Get a cross-section of shoppers? - We are, yes.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48A cross-section of the nation.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52'So this is about us and what we want from our strawberries.'
0:27:52 > 0:27:56- How many ways of judging a strawberry are there?- Many ways.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58I mean, today we're looking at the appearance, the flavour
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and the texture of strawberries.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02How many questions would there be on how it looks?
0:28:02 > 0:28:05I think we've got three or four questions on the appearance
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and the same for the flavour and the same for the texture.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11There aren't nine questions you can ask about a strawberry.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14There are. There are.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Look at the appearance.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17Look at the size of the strawberry.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Look at the colour of the strawberry, the shape,
0:28:20 > 0:28:21how clean they look.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24If you are going to put a strawberry in your mouth,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26you'd want it, obviously, to look nice.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29You wouldn't want an ugly, little, dirty strawberry,
0:28:29 > 0:28:30you'd want it to look really nice.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Here's your strawberries.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42It takes 40 judges 2 hours to give their scores.
0:28:46 > 0:28:47So, now what? What happens next?
0:28:47 > 0:28:49They start crunching numbers here at Campden.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53They'll give us the information around what the scores are, how the product's performed
0:28:53 > 0:28:55and get all those verbatim comments laid out for me.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57And that'll take a few days.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59- Oh, no!- Yes. Still more awaiting, I'm afraid.
0:29:06 > 0:29:07'Three weeks later
0:29:07 > 0:29:10'and I'm at Sainsbury's HQ in Holborn, London, to find out
0:29:10 > 0:29:14'whether Simon's strawberry has made the grade with the public.'
0:29:16 > 0:29:20It's weird. Even I'm nervous, so I can only guess how Simon's feeling.
0:29:23 > 0:29:24Ho, ho, ho, ho!
0:29:26 > 0:29:28- Hello, Gregg.- How are you, mate?
0:29:28 > 0:29:29Very well. How are you doing?
0:29:29 > 0:29:31- I'm a bit nervous. - Yeah, me too, me too.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35So you're waiting on this e-mail. When's it due in?
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Well, is due at half past one, so it should be sat there right now.
0:29:38 > 0:29:39Oh, you're kidding me.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42- No. Shall we have a look? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:29:42 > 0:29:47- Right.- You haven't seen this, have you?- I haven't, no. No.
0:29:47 > 0:29:48OK, here we go.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50That's the result just there, Gregg.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52- So, that's fantastic news. - Win.- That's a win.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55But it's both flavour and overall liking.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57No, you can see from my face. I mean, from that perspective,
0:29:57 > 0:29:58it couldn't be any better.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00That's saying that, compared to
0:30:00 > 0:30:02the current variety that we had tested,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04we've won on both parameters, which is great news.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06Really great news.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08- Well done, mate. - Thank you very much.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10Yeah, over the moon, over the moon.
0:30:12 > 0:30:13So, that's it.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Simon's finally got his new strawberry.
0:30:16 > 0:30:17After eight long years,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20what we're going to see now is a ridiculously fast scaling up
0:30:20 > 0:30:23as he tries to get millions and millions
0:30:23 > 0:30:26of strawberries on our shelves in time for the summer.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38A big supermarket can stock over 30,000 items,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41up to 50,000 in one of the massive ones.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44But, how many items do think you buy in a year?
0:30:45 > 0:30:49'I've come to meet Nick Gray, a retail marketing specialist
0:30:49 > 0:30:53'who helps supermarkets understand us shoppers and how we behave
0:30:53 > 0:30:57'when faced with thousands of different product lines.'
0:30:59 > 0:31:00Do we honestly buy this many lines?
0:31:00 > 0:31:03I mean, individually and as a family, how many lines do we buy?
0:31:03 > 0:31:05There's thousands in here.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09A typical UK family might buy between only 200 and 300.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14'Just 5% of the products in a large supermarket
0:31:14 > 0:31:17'generate around half the store's income.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22'Red, white wine and lager are what we spend most on.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25'Milk, Cheddar cheese, chocolate
0:31:25 > 0:31:30'and cat food all make it into the top ten items we buy most often.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34'With most of their income coming from a few items,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37'why do the supermarkets bother stocking so many products?'
0:31:37 > 0:31:38SCANNER BEEPS
0:31:38 > 0:31:41What might be in your 200 or 300 is a bit different to
0:31:41 > 0:31:42the next family's 200 or 300.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And if there's something you want that isn't in stock,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48then there's nothing more annoying than that.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51So that's why they have to have such a huge range of products.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Is there such a thing as too much choice?
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Well, there'd be too much choice in an area where we're not interested
0:31:56 > 0:31:57and we don't NEED a choice.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01For example, you could think about sink unblockers.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04There's probably two or three in here and you don't need ten.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06But tea, for example, a great British favourite,
0:32:06 > 0:32:09there's about a hundred different tea varieties here.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12But it's very personal. So I only drink one type of tea by one brand
0:32:12 > 0:32:15and that's all I'll have, but you'll be different.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17So you've got to offer the whole lot.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Shoppers vote with their feet and they wouldn't be stocked
0:32:20 > 0:32:22if they weren't being bought.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25And we don't want to dictate too much to the shoppers what
0:32:25 > 0:32:28we think they should be eating. Surely it's up to them.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31So there you have it.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33For every product line we select in a year,
0:32:33 > 0:32:36the supermarket stocks at least a hundred others
0:32:36 > 0:32:38that we won't even touch.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42That's what it takes for us all to get the things that we want.
0:32:47 > 0:32:52I'm following Britain's supermarkets season by season to discover
0:32:52 > 0:32:56how they bring us our food and each season gives the supermarkets
0:32:56 > 0:32:59the opportunity to try to tempt us with something new.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Sainsbury's want to use summer
0:33:02 > 0:33:04to launch a new range of ready meals,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08something that suits alfresco dining in the sunshine.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Ready meals is a huge market.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16Last year, we bought almost 600 million of them.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18But coming up with a new recipe isn't as easy as you think.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22When it comes to ready meals, we are pretty much stuck in our ways.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25The third most popular, chicken tikka masala.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28The second most popular, cottage pie.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30But, the most popular, without a doubt...
0:33:31 > 0:33:33..is lasagne.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37We spent £85 million on lasagne last year.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41That list hasn't changed for five years.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43So to get us to try something new,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46the supermarkets have a battle on their hands.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49They need to spot how our tastes are changing
0:33:49 > 0:33:52and what new flavours we might be interested in.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55One way they do it is right up my street.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59Today, I'm going to have a look at what many people consider
0:33:59 > 0:34:02to be the best job in supermarkets.
0:34:03 > 0:34:04Good afternoon.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07'I'm at a trendy restaurant in London to meet Susi Richards,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09'Sainsbury's head of product development
0:34:09 > 0:34:12'and product developer Romilly Edelmann.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15'Susi signs off all Sainsbury's own brand food.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19'She is one of the most influential women in British supermarkets
0:34:19 > 0:34:23'and, today, they're here to check out the latest fashions in food.'
0:34:23 > 0:34:25You are trying to identify the food trends
0:34:25 > 0:34:28- and just get slightly in front of them.- Absolutely.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32We're trying to identify some of those emerging trends,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34emerging flavours and bring them to our customers.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37So, you need to go out to the smartest restaurants
0:34:37 > 0:34:40to find out what the best of food looks like, is that right?
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Yeah. We don't just go to the really smart places, either.
0:34:43 > 0:34:44So today, we're here, but we'll
0:34:44 > 0:34:46also go to lots of high street chains
0:34:46 > 0:34:47that our customers go to.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51'Many supermarkets send out taste teams like this to try
0:34:51 > 0:34:54'and tap into hot trends.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57'And Susi and Romilly think Spanish cuisine is one to watch.'
0:34:57 > 0:35:01- And why Spanish?- Sharing plates are really growing in popularity.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05I think, in the UK, it's become much more about informal eating.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07There's lots of different tastes to be able to sample
0:35:07 > 0:35:09and try lots of different foods in one go.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13So I'm sitting here, I'm eating, but you are scientifically
0:35:13 > 0:35:16breaking this dish apart and sending it through a factory.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19We're here because we want to create a range of tapas dishes,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23and how we then replicate that for 23 million customers a week.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27The challenge for us would be to present those products
0:35:27 > 0:35:30alongside these and for you not to be able to tell the difference.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33Whoa! That's a big boast!
0:35:33 > 0:35:34Now, I know Sam, the chef here.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38Sam, are we able to borrow you for a moment?
0:35:38 > 0:35:40I've got a question I want to ask you on camera,
0:35:40 > 0:35:42if that's all right. Nothing rude.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44- Take a seat, chef.- Yes.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48Is it possible to recreate a chef's food
0:35:48 > 0:35:51thousands and thousands of times and make it mass market?
0:35:53 > 0:35:54I hope not.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56That's what I thought you'd say.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03Personally, I would have never have made the link between top end
0:36:03 > 0:36:05restaurant and supermarket.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09But they are scrutinising everything that is happening in the food world.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12The supermarkets are seeing what they can use, what they can nick.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17'I enjoyed my lunch, but there's no hanging about.
0:36:17 > 0:36:18'We're off for another.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20'Over the course of a day,
0:36:20 > 0:36:23'these ladies can sample over 30 dishes.'
0:36:24 > 0:36:27How have you not put on so much weight?
0:36:27 > 0:36:29It sounds terrible, but normally
0:36:29 > 0:36:31you do quite a lot of spitting,
0:36:31 > 0:36:35so you don't necessarily eat everything that you taste.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38So we can be doing quite a lot of tasting day in, day out.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40So you don't eat everything.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44'People like Susi have a huge influence over what we get to eat.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47'She's responsible for making sure 1,500 new products
0:36:47 > 0:36:49'get to the shelves each year.'
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Do you think there is something particular or even slightly odd
0:36:54 > 0:36:56about you and food that's made you good at this?
0:36:56 > 0:37:00I think it's probably my obsession.
0:37:00 > 0:37:01You can show me a product...
0:37:01 > 0:37:03I have a very bad memory for most things,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05I don't remember a lot of facts.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07However, I do remember products.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09So I always think it's quite difficult for the team,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12cos they'll show me a product at a certain stage and then,
0:37:12 > 0:37:16if that product changes in any tiny little way, I will remember.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19I remember every small detail.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22I'll remember the number of prawns in the fishcake.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27The scouting mission is over.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29The next stage for their Spanish ready meal range
0:37:29 > 0:37:31happens at Sainsbury's HQ.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38There are three floors here of test kitchens, assessment rooms
0:37:38 > 0:37:39and food libraries.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42This is where the supermarkets take cutting edge,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45trendy restaurant food and turn it into mass-market.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54In here, they test all 10,500 Sainsbury's own brand products.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58They have over 100 chefs, home economists and food technologists.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01'In one of their development kitchens,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04'chef Nicola is cooking up Spanish dishes.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07'They want to give them a supermarket twist.'
0:38:09 > 0:38:10Smells good.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12We are cooking up a new tapas range
0:38:12 > 0:38:14which we're developing, which
0:38:14 > 0:38:17we're then going to do a sampling review with the product developers.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20And how difficult are this lot?
0:38:20 > 0:38:21SHE LAUGHS
0:38:21 > 0:38:23Not at all.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26What have we got then? How many are we working on now?
0:38:26 > 0:38:30We normally start with about 20 to 25 ideas and then,
0:38:30 > 0:38:32as we go through the development process, it all filters down.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35I saw this one in the restaurant, didn't I?
0:38:38 > 0:38:42I mean, that squid is cooked to absolute perfection.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46How are you going to guarantee that goes out as good as that?
0:38:46 > 0:38:51Turning THAT into food for thousands is not at all easy.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55I agree. For me, the finish of the product is really important.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59And to be able to recreate that in the factory and obviously to give
0:38:59 > 0:39:02the product the life that it needs, as well, that's the challenge.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04We're only just at development stage
0:39:04 > 0:39:07and you can see how the dish is morphing away from restaurant
0:39:07 > 0:39:10food and it's becoming something that will suit the supermarket.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13I'm fascinated to see what happens next.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16'I'll be back later to see what it takes to make Mediterranean
0:39:16 > 0:39:18'meals supermarket style.'
0:39:24 > 0:39:26We like to get a bit fruity in the sun
0:39:26 > 0:39:29and strawberries might bring in the most money for supermarkets
0:39:29 > 0:39:31during the hotter months,
0:39:31 > 0:39:33but there's actually a fruit that we eat more of.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38In fact, we get through 1.5 billion of them every summer.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Bananas!
0:39:41 > 0:39:45# Yes! We have no bananas
0:39:45 > 0:39:47# We have no bananas today... #
0:39:47 > 0:39:51'They're one of the supermarkets' bestselling products,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53'so the phrase, "Yes, we have no bananas,"
0:39:53 > 0:39:56'are words that none of them want to hear.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00'Tesco's technology boffins have devised a clever way to make
0:40:00 > 0:40:02'sure the song never comes true.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05'Mike McNamara heads up the team.'
0:40:06 > 0:40:10A store like this one will sell over half a tonne of bananas every day.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12So, at busy times, that's like a banana through
0:40:12 > 0:40:14the checkout every 15 seconds.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17So, if you're not paying absolute attention, it's very,
0:40:17 > 0:40:19very easy to let the shelf run empty.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22They're trialling a new banana alert.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26The checkouts will send an automatic message to shelf stackers
0:40:26 > 0:40:30if a banana hasn't gone through the tills in five minutes.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34This is a bit of technology we're working on. It's a smart badge.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37We can send an alert down to the member of staff
0:40:37 > 0:40:40on the smart badge to say, "Go fill up the bananas."
0:40:41 > 0:40:44'The plan is to use this auto alert system
0:40:44 > 0:40:46'for all bestselling products.'
0:40:47 > 0:40:50Bananas. Really important to the supermarkets.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54But we are quite a picky bunch when it comes to buying bananas.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57We don't want them too green and we don't want them with any brown.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00So, how do the supermarkets get them just right?
0:41:11 > 0:41:13'Here at Portsmouth docks,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16'the mother of all banana boats has just arrived.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20'Even if we ever got a good British summer,
0:41:20 > 0:41:22'we can't grow bananas commercially here,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26'so they have to be transported from halfway around the world.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31'This entire ship is jam-packed with boxes of our favourite fruit.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35'Kevin Retford is banana technical manager for The Co-operative.'
0:41:38 > 0:41:41It's a noisy business, isn't it, this banana lifting?
0:41:41 > 0:41:42Absolutely.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Where are these bananas from?
0:41:44 > 0:41:47This actual consignment, Gregg, is from Colombia.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50How many bananas have you got on here, do you know?
0:41:50 > 0:41:53There's 47 million bananas on the ship.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56- That's nearly enough for one for everybody in the country.- Yeah.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Is there any chance I can get down and have a look at these?
0:41:59 > 0:42:01- Yeah, can't see why not. - Really?- Yeah, yeah.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06'47 million bananas sounds a lot, but we Brits will munch through
0:42:06 > 0:42:09'these in just three days and every single one needs to be
0:42:09 > 0:42:12'in perfect condition when it reaches the shelves.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16'The trick to making that happen began when these bananas were
0:42:16 > 0:42:19'first put on the boat in South America 11 days ago.'
0:42:20 > 0:42:24If I kept a banana in my fruit bowl for ten days, it would be
0:42:24 > 0:42:27- a complete black mush.- Absolutely.
0:42:27 > 0:42:28I mean, if you look at these now,
0:42:28 > 0:42:30they're looking like cucumbers more than bananas.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33- So, how have they stayed dark green? - Because they're asleep.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36The fruit when it was loaded, it's been temperature controlled
0:42:36 > 0:42:39and it will be kept at a steady temperature, 13 degrees,
0:42:39 > 0:42:42all the way until it comes back into here and we open the lid up.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44As soon as you get them to 13 degrees, they stop ripening?
0:42:44 > 0:42:46- Absolutely.- They're just snoozing.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49So, for two weeks, as long as you keep the temperature right,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52- you've got a lot of sleeping... - We don't want to wake it up yet.
0:42:54 > 0:42:59A banana will stay green until it produces a gas called ethylene,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02or receives a dose of it from other bananas.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07Tiny pores in the skin of the banana let the gas in and out.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11As you cool the banana, it holds off producing ethylene
0:43:11 > 0:43:15and the pores close, stopping any of the gas getting in.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19So the banana stays asleep.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21Forgive me, but you've now taken the roof off,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24so the sunlight's going to get to it, start ripening.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26This fruit has got to move and move fast.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31'Bananas are sensitive to extreme changes in temperature,
0:43:31 > 0:43:33'so they need to be unloaded
0:43:33 > 0:43:37'and put back into a controlled environment as quickly as possible.'
0:43:37 > 0:43:39What happens if the bananas get too cold?
0:43:39 > 0:43:42If they get too cold, the bananas will go grey.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45- What if they get too hot? They start to ripen?- They start to ripen.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47Once they start on that process, it's irretrievable.
0:43:47 > 0:43:48You can't stop them again.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55'They want to control the ripening
0:43:55 > 0:43:58'and that happens in specialist centres,
0:43:58 > 0:44:01'like this one in Basingstoke.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05'Britain needs 11 of these to meet our banana habits.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09'Paul Barrett is a banana supply manager for Fyffes.'
0:44:10 > 0:44:15- What are these?- Each one of these is a ripening chamber for bananas.- Wow!
0:44:15 > 0:44:17How many bananas does each chamber hold?
0:44:17 > 0:44:21Depending on which bays we're are using, five to ten million.
0:44:21 > 0:44:22Let's open up the door.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29Three floors of bananas?!
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Let's get some down for you.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37- Wahey!- There we are. These are not long off the ship.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Oh, my word. Aren't they beautiful?
0:44:39 > 0:44:42- Beautiful, aren't they? - Aren't they lovely?
0:44:42 > 0:44:43So, what stage are they at now?
0:44:43 > 0:44:46- Because they were asleep on the ship.- They still are.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49We need to wake these up and then control the ripening cycle
0:44:49 > 0:44:53so we can get them ready on the day that the Co-op want them.
0:44:53 > 0:44:54And how do you do that?
0:44:54 > 0:44:57We use a bit of ethylene, which is the product that
0:44:57 > 0:45:00the bananas would produce on their own if left to their own devices.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03But we put a little bit into the ripening chamber.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06It's only 600 parts per million, a tiny amount,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09just enough to kick-start them and start that ripening.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12'By adding ethylene artificially,
0:45:12 > 0:45:16'they can ripen the bananas to their timetable.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20'It triggers reactions which turn starch in the fruit into sugar.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23'The more sugar, the riper the banana.'
0:45:23 > 0:45:25People say if you want to ripen up another fruit, put it in
0:45:25 > 0:45:29a bag with a banana, because the banana gives off ethylene.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31- And that's what you're injecting into the room?- We are.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34Most fruits will give off ethylene, but bananas are particularly
0:45:34 > 0:45:37good at producing ethylene as part of the ripening process.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40So put them with your unripe tomatoes, bring them on like that.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44This is the ethylene generator. Just stand back a little.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47Ethylene is a natural product,
0:45:47 > 0:45:50and we've got a little bit of it in this container.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53They would ripen up if you left them on their own.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55They would, but they would ripen at different rates.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57We've got a quarter of a million bananas in this one chamber.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00We would have bananas at different states of ripeness.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02How do you sell them off the shelf?
0:46:02 > 0:46:04What we call in clusters or hands, Gregg.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07- So they can't all be different colours, can they?- No, no.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10- We want them all consistent colour. - We've got to put that in there?
0:46:10 > 0:46:13- We have.- I'm just about to wake up these little darlings!
0:46:13 > 0:46:15Come on! Rise and shine!
0:46:15 > 0:46:17Daddy's here! Come on!
0:46:17 > 0:46:18HE LAUGHS
0:46:18 > 0:46:20- That's it. He's in.- That's it.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Now you've triggered the ripening process by introducing
0:46:23 > 0:46:24the ethylene, there's no going back.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30'It takes between four to eight days for the bananas to ripen
0:46:30 > 0:46:34'and they're finally ready for the supermarket shelves.'
0:46:34 > 0:46:37This is a hive of activity. What's going on here?
0:46:37 > 0:46:40This is our packing and colour checking line
0:46:40 > 0:46:43and we're producing some bananas for the Co-op, here.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45- Colour checking?- Yes.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48If you look at this fruit now against the colour chart,
0:46:48 > 0:46:50we're around this area here.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53And so, by the time they get into store,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55it should be with a target colouration
0:46:55 > 0:46:56of that when it gets to stores.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58But I do get frustrated that
0:46:58 > 0:47:01I can't actually buy a ripe banana anywhere.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03Yeah, I understand where you're coming from.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06If we were to put the fruit too forward,
0:47:06 > 0:47:07it's going to cause food waste.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10So I've got to ripen them myself at home, really.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13Well, that's what statistics are telling us.
0:47:13 > 0:47:14That's what our consumers want.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16Do you know what?
0:47:16 > 0:47:20I've been dealing with fruit and veg and bananas for over 20 years
0:47:20 > 0:47:24- and I have found today absolutely fascinating.- Oh, good.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26- Absolutely fascinating. I've loved it.- Good.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30I had no idea that you could actually order them
0:47:30 > 0:47:34as ripe as you wanted. So next time I go shopping for bananas,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36I'm taking my own colour chart.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51It's five weeks since Waitrose had their barbecue brainstorm.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53It's a body!
0:47:53 > 0:47:55The chefs started with 50 ideas,
0:47:55 > 0:47:59they've chosen 25 to take to the next stage.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04It's time to decide if they make business sense.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07We exploded loads of ideas, you know - cooking in a pit.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10Now we've kind of honed it in and really would
0:48:10 > 0:48:12appreciate your feedback on things like the Japanese stuff...
0:48:12 > 0:48:14Executive chef Jonathan Moore
0:48:14 > 0:48:16is pitching to the barbecue buying team.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19Do you want a little taste of the sauces on their own, first?
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Cos it's a really good indication as to what it goes with and why.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26I need their feedback now and say, "What do you think?"
0:48:26 > 0:48:28Cos they're really close to their customers.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31They know what the customer really likes, what the customer wants to buy.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33It's quite a mild, smoked flavour,
0:48:33 > 0:48:35considering it's been smoked for so long,
0:48:35 > 0:48:37rather than a liquid smoke,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40or that quite acrid, artificial flavour.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45Jamie Matthewson looks after 200 products
0:48:45 > 0:48:48and a turnover of more than £100 million a year.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50There's quite a bit of pressure
0:48:50 > 0:48:52on the barbecue buyer to get barbecue right.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54That's pretty key.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57'The pressure on me is to try and increase our market share,
0:48:57 > 0:48:59'deliver a different range.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02'But what he can create in a kitchen with really talented chefs is
0:49:02 > 0:49:06'sometimes not what we can create on a large scale.'
0:49:06 > 0:49:10This is the point where they really start picking the dishes apart.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14They have to make a good return on investment
0:49:14 > 0:49:17and Jamie's not convinced about the Argentinian meat roll.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20You know, a rolled flank would be really tricky to do,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22tricky to do that by hand.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Is that going to take up six or seven hours of factory time
0:49:25 > 0:49:27when we want to be getting burgers out?
0:49:27 > 0:49:28Chicken on lemongrass...
0:49:28 > 0:49:32He's not won over by Japanese kebabs, either.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35In summer, just at a peak time for chicken, we're then asking them,
0:49:35 > 0:49:37"Yeah, we'd like some one centimetre diced yakitori skewers,
0:49:37 > 0:49:40"which are going to be hand done on line."
0:49:40 > 0:49:42So we've got to take all of that into consideration.
0:49:44 > 0:49:45So, which dishes do work?
0:49:45 > 0:49:49Well, American slow-cooked barbecue pork
0:49:49 > 0:49:51is one that's caught Jamie's eye.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Pulled pork I think is a really great product,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56because it's really difficult to do at home.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58And with the slow-cooking process, I think
0:49:58 > 0:50:01we can develop that into a really, really superb product.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06The clue as to why slow-cooked barbecue pork might be
0:50:06 > 0:50:08a contender is here, Dalehead,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10a meat processor in Wiltshire.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Six weeks on, Jamie's here to check a factory test batch.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19If you want to give me a hand to load up.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26So when we go into production, we'll be
0:50:26 > 0:50:29looking at upscaling this from 60 kilos at the moment to,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32when we're selling it at the peak of barbecue season,
0:50:32 > 0:50:34we should be selling about two tonnes.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38That's 5,000 packs a week.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41And the reason Jamie's so keen on this dish is it lets him
0:50:41 > 0:50:45use cheaper cuts of meat, so he can keep the price of the product down.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50It's all to do with the slow-cooking.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52The meat is smoked for an hour,
0:50:52 > 0:50:56then put in a steam cooker for another ten hours.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59It makes tough meat, like this pork shoulder, tender.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Mark Williams is Dalehead's development manager.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09Pork shoulder is a particular joint that lends itself to slow-cooking.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13Those are parts of the animal that tend to work more, so the muscle
0:51:13 > 0:51:17does more work and, by nature, will have more muscle fibres in it.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Hard-working muscles contain lots of collagen,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24a stringy protein which makes meat chewy.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26When cooked for a long time,
0:51:26 > 0:51:31the collagen breaks down and turns into a more edible gelatine jelly.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33This solves a problem for Jamie.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39It's great for us, because it helps us manage the animal better.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43So rather than going out to the market and buying a million legs,
0:51:43 > 0:51:45we go out to the market and buy a million pigs.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48So the legs are taken care of in the ham, that leaves me
0:51:48 > 0:51:50with shoulders that I need to use up.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53This is a great way of utilising all of that meat,
0:51:53 > 0:51:54making sure there's no waste.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59So slow-cooked pork is a favourite because it uses up spare meat.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02It's still to get final sign off from the bosses,
0:52:02 > 0:52:06but the factory tests look positive.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08Ten hours they've been in there cooking.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10So if you stand back, Jamie.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16Jamie's confident it'll become one of 12 dishes
0:52:16 > 0:52:18in Waitrose's new barbecue range.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26'Sainsbury's are also well down the line with their
0:52:26 > 0:52:28'new Spanish ready-meal range.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32'It's five months and I dined out with their development team.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35'They set out to make supermarket meals as good as restaurant food.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39'The team have signed off on factory test versions of the dishes.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43'They're now at the next crucial stage and it happens here,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46'at their Waltham Point depot in Essex.'
0:52:48 > 0:52:50Apparently, I'll get a chance to
0:52:50 > 0:52:52taste the dishes they've come up with.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55But first, they have to go for a true test, to see
0:52:55 > 0:52:58if they can cope with the rigours of supermarket life.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02'Carrying out today's tests are product developer Romilly Edelmann
0:53:02 > 0:53:06'and packaging technologist Jane Skelton.'
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Ladies! Hey, you did it! This is it, is it?
0:53:10 > 0:53:12That was months ago we started looking at this.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14What did you end up with?
0:53:14 > 0:53:16This one's chicken and chorizo paella.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21- And then we've got a smoked paprika marinated calamari.- Whoa!
0:53:21 > 0:53:24These products have been made by our suppliers in their factories
0:53:24 > 0:53:27as a trial and then we're today here at the depot
0:53:27 > 0:53:28to follow the transit trial.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31What's a transit trial?
0:53:31 > 0:53:33A transit trial is where we replicate what happens to
0:53:33 > 0:53:35the products through normal distribution.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37So they'll go round the conveyor belts here,
0:53:37 > 0:53:40will go into the back of a lorry, go to a store and then we'll go
0:53:40 > 0:53:43and have a look and see that they've turned up in one piece at the store.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45So, what now? Put it on the conveyor belt?
0:53:45 > 0:53:47- Put it on to the conveyor belt. - Oooh!
0:53:47 > 0:53:49Ready?
0:53:51 > 0:53:55'Not only do these terracotta-style pots have to do stand up
0:53:55 > 0:53:57'to our microwaves, ovens and fridges,
0:53:57 > 0:54:00'they also need to survive life on the move.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05'In the depot, products are whizzed around on these conveyor belts.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09'This is where deliveries from suppliers are divided up to
0:54:09 > 0:54:11'go to individual stores.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15'They test hundreds of new products a year to check
0:54:15 > 0:54:17'the packaging is up to the punishment
0:54:17 > 0:54:20'and that the contents look presentable at the end.'
0:54:25 > 0:54:28So you're looking for any breakages in the packaging at all.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31Is the film still sealed? Has the cardboard been ripped?
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Is there any cracking? But these are absolutely fine.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36- So, what do we do now? - We'll get them onto the cage
0:54:36 > 0:54:38- and take them over to the loading bay.- Off you go.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44'They carry out these tests before the end of development.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47'Any problems could hold up full production,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49'so they need to identify them early.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54'Next, they're loaded onto trucks to see how
0:54:54 > 0:54:56'they cope with transport to a shop.'
0:55:03 > 0:55:05There they are, look.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07Fantastic. None have smashed.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10All the seals are still intact. Oh, look. This one isn't actually.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13- Oh, that's one's ripped! - That one's ripped. Oh, dear.- Oh!
0:55:13 > 0:55:16So we've got something there we need to work on.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18Anything could contaminate the product,
0:55:18 > 0:55:20so someone's hand could go in it.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22It's just not great.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25You have a look on your face like a little boy whose ice cream's
0:55:25 > 0:55:28- just fallen out of his cornet. - I know, a little bit disappointing.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30Is this time for you to go outside
0:55:30 > 0:55:31with a service revolver, or is this fixable?
0:55:31 > 0:55:34We just need a review just for how long they've had
0:55:34 > 0:55:36the sealer on top of that and how hot they've had it
0:55:36 > 0:55:39to make sure that it's at the right time and temperature
0:55:39 > 0:55:40and the right amount of pressure.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42Cos it feels like one of them is wrong.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44But I suppose that is the point of a trial.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47The point of doing a trial is that we iron out all these problems.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53'The final test is an authentic shopping experience.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57'Every week, they lug bags of new products by bus, tube,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00'car or on foot, just like a typical shopper.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04'Back at Sainsbury's HQ,
0:56:04 > 0:56:08'it's time to see how close they've got to restaurant quality food.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12'Susi Richards, head of own brand product development,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15'is here to do a final tasting with me.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17'First up, it's the paella.'
0:56:24 > 0:56:27It's decent home stuff.
0:56:27 > 0:56:28It wouldn't make a restaurant table.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31It kind of mellows along on one flavour
0:56:31 > 0:56:35with little ripples of other flavours.
0:56:35 > 0:56:36It's perfectly acceptable
0:56:36 > 0:56:39without being worthy of writing home about it.
0:56:41 > 0:56:43'So, let's see how they've got on with the calamari.'
0:56:43 > 0:56:46Lovely, thank you very much. Shall we get rid of the paella?
0:56:53 > 0:56:55- That's amazing.- Fantastic.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59Personally, I would put more garlic on it, maybe a bit of chilli.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02But the texture of the squid is perfect.
0:57:03 > 0:57:08How do you get squid cooked that perfectly ring after ring?
0:57:08 > 0:57:11We steam it. So we've done a lot of work understanding what the right
0:57:11 > 0:57:12time and temperature of the steam is,
0:57:12 > 0:57:14but essentially it's just a simple steam.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17Cooking squid at home, you'd fry it, high temperature, really quickly.
0:57:17 > 0:57:19Why don't you do that?
0:57:19 > 0:57:21It's harder for us to control the texture.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23So the biggest challenge for us is making sure the product
0:57:23 > 0:57:27tastes the same every single time and by steaming it, that's easier.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30I tell you what, I am really, really impressed.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33- It's good, isn't it? - Who'd have believed that?
0:57:35 > 0:57:38'These dishes have had to tick a lot of boxes
0:57:38 > 0:57:40'to earn their place on the supermarket shelves.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43'It's an 11 month process to get
0:57:43 > 0:57:46'15 products ready for their new range.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51'Everything I've seen is such a different way to
0:57:51 > 0:57:54'think about food than I'm used to.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58'I've had a real insight into why some products make it
0:57:58 > 0:58:00'and others don't,
0:58:00 > 0:58:02'And the amount of work it takes -
0:58:02 > 0:58:05'years of research, clever science,
0:58:05 > 0:58:09'even predicting the weather and our buying habits.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14'Coming soon, how the supermarkets get set for autumn.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16'I'll find about a revolution in British apples...'
0:58:16 > 0:58:19How is a small boy supposed to climb that?
0:58:19 > 0:58:21I don't think you've thought this through, have you?
0:58:21 > 0:58:25'..discover the truth about own brand pies...'
0:58:25 > 0:58:28- Are they all made in the same place?- Ah.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31'..and I'm let in to a hidden supermarket world.'
0:58:31 > 0:58:33It's like a supermarket, but it's got none of the thrills.
0:58:33 > 0:58:36- It's got no special offer banners... - We've got no customers.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd