Peter's Food Service is a

Bedwas Bedwas is a town situated two miles north-east of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Bedwas neighbours Trethomas, Graig-y-Rhacca and Machen, and forms a council ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

based baker and supplier of pies, pasties, slices, sausage rolls and factored products into retail, food service, catering and hospitality outlets across the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Today it is one of the largest employers in Wales, and one of the largest cold meat distributors in the United Kingdom.

History

Sir Stanley and Peter Thomas were brothers born above a bakery run by their father in Merthyr Tydfil. They joined the family business, but after it was sold Sir Stanley decided to start his own venture. In 1971 Sir Stanley bought a factory unit on the Pant Glas Industrial Estate

Mid Glamorgan , Government= Mid Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Mid ...

. A few years later was joined by his brother and sister, selling pies to local fish and chip shops under the name Peter's Savoury Products. In 1976, the business moved to a new factory at Bedwas House Industrial Estate, to enable distribution down the M4 motorway and eventually into

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In 1988, the business was sold to

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to for ...

for in excess of £95m. Peters Savoury Products purchased Harry Thomas & Sons (Newport butchers chain, and factory) in the mid 1980s and Henry Telfers van sales business in August 1989. After Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness to form Diageo, the food businesses were demerged. Peter's Food Services became an independent listed company. However, after acquiring the UK assets of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

foods producer

Glanbia Glanbia plc ( ) is an Irish global nutrition group with operations in 32 countries. It has leading market positions in sports nutrition, cheese, dairy ingredients, speciality non-dairy ingredients and vitamin and mineral premixes. Glanbia produc ...

in 2002, by 2004 the company was in severe trouble, and sold its catering business to Brake Brothers. In 2007, Peter's launched their Seriously Tasty range, and products through brand partnerships with

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as b ...

, Heinz, Sharwoods and Bisto. They also expanded production, securing “own label” contracts with major supermarkets including

Sainsbury’s J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company w ...

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

and

Coop Coop, COOP, Co-op, or ''variation'', most often refers to: * A chicken coop or other enclosure * Cooperative or co-operative ("co-op"), an association of persons who cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit ** Housing ...

Today

The company today retains manufacturing assets in Bedwas, its van sales network as well as 10 regional depots (located at Bedwas, Swansea, Bristol, Birmingham, Warrington, Durham, Ossett, High Wycombe, Sidcup and Brighton and employ circa 900 staff. Peter's Pies celebrated 40 years in business with a special "Cardiff pie", which contained beef cuts, onion and gravy encased in shortcrust pastry.

References

External links

* {{British pies Caerphilly Food and drink companies established in 1971 Food and drink companies of Wales Meat companies of the United Kingdom British pie brands