Sandwich factory

On Fill in the blank 1 of 23 grey morning last month, I was invited to see Fill in the blank 2 of 23 sandwich assembly lines at Adelie – Fill in the blank 3 of 23 £300m food-to-go manufacturer – at Wembley, in Fill in the blank 4 of 23 north-west London. Like many wholesalers, Adelie is reluctant to name its clients, for fear of ending Fill in the blank 5 of 23 illusion that Fill in the blank 6 of 23 most supermarkets and Fill in the blank 7 of 23 high-street brands still make their own. Fill in the blank 8 of 23 factory manager was Azzeddine “Abdul” Chahar, Fill in the blank 9 of 23 48-year-old former police detective from Algiers, who fled Fill in the blank 10 of 23 country’s civil war in 1993. Chahar has been making Fill in the blank 11 of 23 sandwiches ever since, although he sometimes gets Fill in the blank 12 of 23 funny looks when he tells Fill in the blank 13 of 23 friends back home what he does. Fill in the blank 14 of 23 Algerians, like many people around Fill in the blank 15 of 23 world, regard Fill in the blank 16 of 23 sandwich as Fill in the blank 17 of 23 inferior fast food, because it is cold. “Even today,” he shrugged. He tries to persuade his teenage daughter to have Fill in the blank 18 of 23 decent meal at school, but Fill in the blank 19 of 23 most mornings she makes him buy her Fill in the blank 20 of 23 sandwich on Fill in the blank 21 of 23 way. “It’s Fill in the blank 22 of 23 quick lunch. Pick up and go,” Chahar said. “There is no time in Fill in the blank 23 of 23 UK. You know that.”

We put on Fill in the blank 1 of 25 wellington boots, Fill in the blank 2 of 25 white coats and Fill in the blank 3 of 25 hairnets, and washed our hands three or four times. Dressing to enter Fill in the blank 4 of 25 sandwich factory is Fill in the blank 5 of 25 bit like preparing to perform Fill in the blank 6 of 25 surgery on Fill in the blank 7 of 25 horse. Chahar showed me Fill in the blank 8 of 25 corridors stacked high with Fill in the blank 9 of 25 specialised brown bread (which must be perfectly square), Fill in the blank 10 of 25 cold storage with six days’ supply of cheese, and Fill in the blank 11 of 25 room with 22 different mayonnaises. In 2010, Raynor Foods, Fill in the blank 12 of 25 small family-owned factory in Chelmsford, introduced Fill in the blank 13 of 25  Intense tomato, Fill in the blank 14 of 25 plum tomato with Fill in the blank 15 of 25 thicker cell walls that help retain Fill in the blank 16 of 25 moisture. It has become Fill in the blank 17 of 25 industry standard. Fill in the blank 18 of 25 tomato was originally designed by Fill in the blank 19 of 25 subsidiary of Bayer, Fill in the blank 20 of 25 German pharmaceuticals corporation, for Fill in the blank 21 of 25 use in Fill in the blank 22 of 25 pizza toppings, and has dramatically reduced Fill in the blank 23 of 25 incidence of soggy sandwiches. But it is sometimes hard to come by. Chahar spotted Fill in the blank 24 of 25 crate. “Fill in the blank 25 of 25 suppliers were struggling to find them last week,” he groused.

In Fill in the blank 1 of 17 main production hall, which had Fill in the blank 2 of 17 red floor and Fill in the blank 3 of 17 thrumming air supply – keeping Fill in the blank 4 of 17 temperature Fill in the blank 5 of 17 steady 10C – Fill in the blank 6 of 17 couple of hundred workers lined seven conveyor belts. Chahar took me to Fill in the blank 7 of 17 middle of Fill in the blank 8 of 17 room, where around Fill in the blank 9 of 17 dozen women were making one of Fill in the blank 10 of 17 Adelie’s newest lines, Fill in the blank 11 of 17 chicken tikka and onion bhaji sandwich, which is popular among Fill in the blank 12 of 17 students. Fill in the blank 13 of 17 belt was going at about 33 sandwiches Fill in the blank 14 of 17 minute, so Fill in the blank 15 of 17 woman at each stage – arranging Fill in the blank 16 of 17 40g of chicken, dolloping and spreading out Fill in the blank 17 of 17 bhaji paste, sprinkling on 3g of coriander – got less than two seconds before they went past.

Fill in the blank 1 of 28 person known as Fill in the blank 2 of 28 “stacker” then put two sandwiches on Fill in the blank 3 of 28 top of each other and fed them into Fill in the blank 4 of 28 Grote AC60 ultrasonic cutting machine. Chahar and I drew close. Fill in the blank 5 of 28 tiny whine emanated from Fill in the blank 6 of 28 titanium blade, which was vibrating 20,000 times Fill in the blank 7 of 28 second and making Fill in the blank 8 of 28 perfect triangles. Its ultrasonic cutters were designed to slice faultlessly through Fill in the blank 9 of 28 chocolate and cheese.

Over Fill in the blank 10 of 28 years, Chahar has tried to get Fill in the blank 11 of 28 unemployed British people to join his sandwich lines. “They come here. They do half a day. They never come back,” he told me. Fill in the blank 12 of 28 work is too cold, and too repetitive. Pay at Fill in the blank 13 of 28 Wembley factory starts at £7.50 Fill in the blank 14 of 28 hour. As Fill in the blank 15 of 28 result, Fill in the blank 16 of 28 most sandwich factories have relied on Fill in the blank 17 of 28 immigrant labour for at least Fill in the blank 18 of 28 decade; in 2014, Fill in the blank 19 of 28 news that Greencore was recruiting in Hungary prompted Fill in the blank 20 of 28 infamous Daily Mail headline, which asked: “IS THERE NO ONE LEFT IN BRITAIN WHO CAN MAKE Fill in the blank 21 of 28 SANDWICH?” According to Fill in the blank 22 of 28 British Sandwich Association, about 75% of Fill in the blank 23 of 28 people in Fill in the blank 24 of 28 sandwich and cafe sector in Fill in the blank 25 of 28 capital are from Fill in the blank 26 of 28 overseas; in Fill in the blank 27 of 28 rest of Fill in the blank 28 of 28 country, it’s 40%.

Back on Fill in the blank 1 of 20 factory floor, Chahar showed me Fill in the blank 2 of 20 new high-tech filling depositor – Fill in the blank 3 of 20 shiny metallic cone – that Fill in the blank 4 of 20 company was trying out. “Fill in the blank 5 of 20 idea is to move to automation as much as we can,” he said. Fill in the blank 6 of 20 blobs of egg mayonnaise dropped precisely on to Fill in the blank 7 of 20 slices of white bread from about Fill in the blank 8 of 20 foot above Fill in the blank 9 of 20 conveyor belt. Fill in the blank 10 of 20 lone woman spread Fill in the blank 11 of 20 sandwich mix with Fill in the blank 12 of 20 spatula in each hand. I looked up and down Fill in the blank 13 of 20 line. There were only four people on it, compared to eight or nine on all Fill in the blank 14 of 20 rest. Fill in the blank 15 of 20 completed sandwiches seemed to travel for Fill in the blank 16 of 20 long time on Fill in the blank 17 of 20 belt without any human intervention. At Fill in the blank 18 of 20 far end, Fill in the blank 19 of 20 stacker readied them for Fill in the blank 20 of 20 slicer. She caught my eye and smiled.