Scotch eggs on a plate with salad

Source: Vale of Mowbray

Pork pie specialist Vale of Mowbray has invested £4m in its latest NPD project which has seen new machinery and jobs added for the launch of Scotch eggs.

The NPD, which is initially launching in a twin-pack format with further sizes to follow, is expected to increase the Yorkshire company’s annual pie sales to £32m.

Scotch eggs have seen a resurgence of late, according to Vale of Mowbray, which highlighted an increase in category sales of £8.1m last year [52 w/e 5 September 2021].

“We’ve been working on this exciting range for some time and feedback so far has been great. The humble scotch egg is being seen as more than just a grab-and-go snack, with an increased number of people building a larger meal around it and being more inventive in the ways they enjoy them,” said Vale of Mowbray marketing manager Jason Crowe.

“This project has led to 30 new roles being created at our production site, as well as being the impetus behind growing our sales and business development team, and we’re really excited to see where the varied functionality of the new machinery installed can take our NPD focus in the future.”

Vale of Mowbray, which was established in 1795 and bakes over 1.5 million pies every single week, has invested in state-of-the-art machinery including what it described as the largest fryer available in the UK which helps to ‘keep the meat moister and the crumb crispier’. This can be used to make 500 Scotch eggs per minute as well as several other encase products.

“While the pork pie will always be a staple, and our flagship product, we’re proud to be harnessing our skills within the savoury pastry category to expand into new products,” added Mark Gatenby, managing director at Vale of Mowbray.

The firm also unveiled a three-strong range of posh pork pies into Morrisons earlier this year with each of the three square-shaped variants offering a ‘unique flavour’. This includes the Gatenby, named after the managing director, which is designed to emulate the experience of eating a roast pork dinner with herby potatoes by using roast potato seasoning, rosemary, and thyme.