Everything You Need to Know About Bernard Matthews Foods

Bernard Matthews Foods is a well-known brand in the UK, but did you know that it was founded in 1950 by Bernard Matthews himself? He started the business with just £500 and a small farm in Norfolk.

The company quickly grew and became famous for its frozen turkey products, which were introduced in the 1960s. This innovative approach to food production helped to make Bernard Matthews Foods a household name.

Today, the company is still family-owned and operated, with Bernard's son, Malcolm Matthews, at the helm.

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Bernard Matthews Foods was founded in 1950 by Bernard Matthews and his wife, starting with just twenty turkey eggs and an incubator at their home.

The company's humble beginnings paved the way for its future success. Bernard Matthews became the biggest turkey farmer in Europe by 1960.

In 1955, Bernard Matthews moved the company's headquarters to Great Witchingham Hall near Norwich, marking a significant milestone in the company's growth.

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The company went public in 1971, offering its shares to the public for the first time. This move helped Bernard Matthews Foods expand its reach and operations.

Bernard Matthews launched the company's first TV commercial in 1980, featuring Turkey Breast Roast and his iconic 'Bootiful' catchphrase. The commercial was a huge success, cementing the company's presence in the market.

The company successfully fought off a takeover bid from US food giant Sara Lee in 2000, allowing Bernard Matthews to maintain control of the business.

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Bernard Matthews has four main operating sites within the UK: Great Witchingham (Norfolk), Holton (Suffolk), Derby (Derbyshire), and Sunderland (Tyne & Wear).

The company employs around 2,200 staff and farms around 7 million turkeys per annum. It has 56 turkey farms and two production sites located in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Bernard Matthews Limited is based in the East of England and produces a range of fresh, cooked and frozen turkey products.

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Bernard Matthews has four main operating sites within the UK, located in Norfolk, Suffolk, Derbyshire, and Tyne & Wear. These sites are crucial for producing a range of fresh, cooked, and frozen turkey products.

The company employs around 2,200 staff across these sites, with 56 turkey farms and two production sites located in Norfolk and Suffolk. This large workforce is essential for managing the farms and production facilities.

In 2021, Bernard Matthews expanded its operations by acquiring new sites in Derby and Sunderland. This move allowed the company to increase its production capacity and reach a wider market.

However, the company announced the closure of its site at Great Witchingham in 2024. This decision was likely made to consolidate operations and focus on more profitable areas.

Bernard Matthews also has operations in Germany and Hungary, with Bernard Matthews Oldenburg based in the north of Germany and SáGa Foods based in northwest Hungary.

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Bernard Matthews used to have an operation in Oldenburg, Germany, where they made fresh, cooked, and frozen poultry products for Germany and northern Europe. This part of the business was sold in July 2016 but still uses the Bernard Matthews brand.

In Hungary, the company had a significant presence through SáGa Foods, which employed about 800 people and made poultry products for Central Europe.

The SáGa Foods operation was part of Bernard Matthews from 2003 until January 2020, when it was sold to another poultry producer.

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Bernard Matthews Foods is a company that produces a range of cooked, fresh, and frozen British turkey products, which account for over 90% of their business. They offer a variety of products, including oven-ready whole birds, joints, cooked re-formed meats, and meal accompaniments.

Their product range also includes chicken products made with meat sourced from partners in South America. Fish was another product in the 1990s and 2000s, but it has since been discontinued.

Bernard Matthews Farms provides turkey to major UK supermarkets for their own store brands, as well as to businesses that supply food for restaurants and other places. Under the "Golden Norfolk Turkey" brand, they offer frozen turkeys, including whole birds of different sizes, crowns, and joints.

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Turkey Twizzlers were a well-known product made by Bernard Matthews, containing 34% turkey.

They became a subject of debate in 2005, when celebrity chef Jamie Oliver talked about them in his TV show Jamie's School Dinners, criticizing their place in school meals.

Several major catering organisations announced they would no longer serve Turkey Twizzlers in schools after Oliver's show.

The product was discontinued in 2005 by Bernard Matthews to avoid further criticism.

However, the publicity surrounding the product actually increased consumption temporarily.

In 2020, Bernard Matthews relaunched the Turkey Twizzler brand with a higher meat content.

You can now buy Turkey Twizzlers again in Iceland Stores and other big shops in the United Kingdom.

Bernard Matthews was listed in the Guinness Book of Records in the 1960s as the largest turkey producer in Europe.

The company's business expanded significantly over the next 20 years, with new products and ranges being introduced to cater to the growing market for convenience foods and healthier options.

In 2010, the company's founder, Bernard Matthews, resigned as chairman.

The company was acquired six years later by Ranjit Singh Boparan, and incorporated into Boparan Holdings, which is now the largest food company in the UK by turnover.

2 Sisters Food Group, part of Boparan Holdings, is a major player in the poultry industry, with 525 million birds slaughtered annually, making it the second largest poultry company in Europe.

Bernard Matthews was a turkey farmer who entered the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest turkey farmer in Europe in the 1980s.

He left school at 16 and went on to have a successful career in the industry, amassing a personal fortune estimated at over £300million when he died in 2010.

At the age of 80, Bernard Matthews had spent decades building his business, despite facing criticism from animal welfare groups and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

Animal welfare is a top priority at Bernard Matthews Foods. In 2006, two contract workers were convicted of animal cruelty after being caught on camera playing with live turkeys.

The incident was widely condemned, and the company took out a newspaper advertisement to distance themselves from the actions of the sub-contractors.

Bernard Matthews has stated that their employees do not mistreat livestock, and they are committed to the "highest standards" of animal welfare. A vet who witnessed the abuse described it as "the most hideous and blatant actions he had seen."

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Bernard Matthews Foods has faced its fair share of challenges, particularly when it comes to avian flu outbreaks. The company experienced a major outbreak in 2007 at one of its farms in Holton, Suffolk.

The H5N1 subtype of the Influenza A virus caused the infection, which led to a large cull of turkeys and the imposition of segregation zones and a disinfection program for the plant.

A highly critical report from Defra highlighted a series of biosecurity failings at the Holton plant, some of which had been drawn to the company's attention in the past. The exact cause of the outbreak was not determined, but the H5N1 bird flu strains found in Hungary and Britain were effectively genetically identical.

The outbreak resulted in bans on the importation of poultry from Britain by several countries, a sharp fall in sales of Bernard Matthews products, and a collapse in confidence in the brand.

This was not an isolated incident, as the company continued to struggle with avian flu outbreaks in the years that followed. In fact, the threat of avian influenza has been almost continuous, posing a significant challenge to the business.

The company's financial performance has also been affected by these challenges, with a pre-tax loss of over £25 million reported in the year to January 2022. This loss was reduced to around £10.2 million the following year, but the company's operating loss was still significant.

The company's struggles have also been reflected in its workforce, with numbers declining from over 2,100 to around 1,840 in the two latest trading years covered by the reports.

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