Flybe / July 2019

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82 / Flight Time / JULY 2019
Talking Business
Ginsters celebrates its
50th birthday this year. Tell us
about the company’s history.
Our story began in 1969 in the
Cornish town of Callington,
when dairy farmer Geoffrey
Ginster started baking pasties
in an old egg-packing barn.
He planned to make 20,000
Cornish pasties in a week but
on his first day he baked just
24. We’ve come a long way
in 50 years, yet we still keep
Geoffrey Ginster’s ambition
at the heart of everything
we do. Callington proudly
remains our home, where
our chefs continue to hone
their craft – exploring recipes
handed down through family
generations.
Ginsters is the largest producer
of pasties in Cornwall with a
quarter of the whole market,
and your products can be
found in 85 per cent of all food
outlets in Great Britain. Yet
there’s a negativity towards
the company. Why do you
think this is?
We are a little misunderstood;
we just haven’t been telling
our story enough. So that’s
what we are now doing – and
there’s so much great stuff to
tell. All our pasties are made in
our state-of-the-art bakery in
Callington, Cornwall, and we
have a strong local-sourcing
policy. The vegetables for our
pasties are sourced, whenever
possible, from Hay Farm on
the Rame Peninsula, just 15
miles from our bakery. We
use Cornish Gouda in our
new Cornish Handcrafted
Chicken, Chorizo and Cornish
Gouda Pasty, and only 100
per cent British farm-assured
meat features in our recipes,
alongside West Country
cheese and dairy.
We were founding
members of the Cornish Pasty
Association and worked with
them to achieve Protected
Geographic Indication (PGI)
status for the Cornish Pasty.
We also believe in giving back;
Ginsters contributes more than
£15m each year to the Cornish
economy, including the
local farming community in
Cornwall and the South West.
We are also incredibly
proud of the distinctive taste
we have in all our pasties and
slices. And that comes from
carefully-sourced, quality
ingredients – and British
whenever possible.
How are you attempting to
change this perception?
In 2018, we unveiled a new
livery and repositioning: ‘A
Taste of Cornwall’, which
celebrates our quality, flavour
and provenance credentials.
As a market leader in
chilled savoury pastry, we
also continue to invest in new
product innovation. In the past
year, we have launched over
20 new products to market,
including Bitesize snacking, our
luxury Cornish Handcrafted
range (our most luxurious
pasties yet), and our vegan-
friendly launches. Our first
ever vegan-friendly Moroccan
Vegetable Pasty made
national headlines!
New for 2019, we have
embarked on a UK-wide
sampling tour to showcase our
pasties. You’ll find us popping
up around the country
from the British Touring Car
Championships to summer
festivals. We’re telling everyone:
“Come and try Ginsters!” The
proof is in the pasty.
How do you develop new
products? What’s the process?
Ginsters is famous for its
distinctive taste. We have
a dynamic team spotting
‘what’s next?’. Since 2017,
we have collaborated with
acclaimed Cornish chef, Chris
Eden, who has been helping
us spot the latest trends and
developing exciting new
flavours, alongside our very
own World Pasty Champion,
Graham Cornish. We always
anticipate the next food
trends, whether it’s ‘the Year
of the Vegan’ or the surge in
snacking!
You launched a lower calorie
range last year. How has that
been received? Do you intend
to add to the range?
Our Katsu Chicken Slice and
Piri Piri Chicken Slice are both
under 370 calories and have
proved especially popular with
Gen Z fans who love global
flavour adventure which fits
into their healthy lifestyle – they
can have their pastry and eat
it! We can’t divulge any new
5 MI NUTES W I TH…
Kieran Hemsworth,
Managing Director at
Ginsters of Cornwall
product secrets just yet, but
watch this space!
What other new developments
can we expect?
2019 has been a big year for
new product development,
but what’s next? Something
you might not expect…
Are you Cornwall born and
bred, or did you move to take
up the job with Ginsters?
I’m originally from Oxford
but I always enjoyed visiting
Cornwall on holiday and
studied at Plymouth University.
My family and I moved
to Tavistock, just outside
Plymouth, in 2015 when I
started working with Ginsters –
we love the South West!
How long have you worked for
Ginsters, and where were you
working before?
I’ve been with Ginsters for
almost four years – prior to
which I spent 16 years with
Coca-Cola European Partners,
most recently as European
Vice President of Operational
Marketing.
What do you do to relax in your
time off?
I really enjoy running and
cycling, they’re the perfect
way to unwind. As a family
we’re lucky enough to have
a home in Padstow where
we all enjoy relaxing and
being tourists at weekends.
Watergate Bay is our favourite
beach for surfing when it’s
warmer, or for blustery walks in
the winter.
What do you see as the biggest
challenge for Ginsters going
forward?
Our biggest challenge is our
greatest opportunity: ensuring
that Ginsters stays ahead of
the game in terms of taste.
Our modern consumer wants
convenience but incredible,
global flavours, too. The
quality, distinctive flavour
and variety of our product
innovation is what keeps us
ahead of the competition!