The Lewis Pies and Pasty Company, one of the largest pie and pasty manufacturers in the UK, is celebrating 80 years in business.
The original Lewis Pies bakery was established in 1936 employing just four people. Now the business employs over 100 full time members of staff and its directors have more than 260 years of bakery experience.
The Swansea-based company has grown from strength to strength since inception and has seen family members heavily involved in the running of the company from day one, something the management of the company intends to preserve.
Managing Director of the company, Wilf Lewis Junior, claims the longevity of the company is a result of taking an innovative approach to production processes and continuously assessing trends and changes in the food industry, and adapting accordingly.
Mr. Lewis said:
“I’m really proud to be part of this business which has endured 80 years of hard work and growing success. For me, this success is down to an ethos of never being complacent and always looking for new avenues to explore to take the business to the next level, whether that’s through launching new product ranges to meet market demands or investing in new equipment for more efficient production processes.”
Over recent years, the company has increased its business offering through pushing a number of business initiatives. These have included investment in its van sales side of the business; establishing distribution agreements with major exportation firm Yearsley Group, helping the company target the Middle East with its halal range of products; forming relationships with some of the UK’s major supermarket chains to sell its pie products in-store; as well as recently launching a new premium range of Welsh pies recently, Wilfreds, which has already seen two pies from the range awarded silver accolades at the British Pie Awards 2016.
Mr. Lewis continued:
“What we have put into the business over the last year in particular has made a significant difference to our bottom line. Focusing on introducing our products and ranges to a wider market rather than just South Wales and the M4 corridor has been well accepted, and this is due to the confidence we have in the quality of our products. This is particularly true with our latest Wilfreds range of premium, Welsh-focused pies. There has been so much positive feedback on the products and this has come as a result of our innovation and giving consumers what they want – authentic, hearty pies.”