In recent years, we've all become more intrigued about how the products we consume are made and BBC Two's Inside the Factory 2023 once again reveals what goes into producing many of Britain's best-loved brand names.
Here's everything we know about Inside the Factory 2023...
Inside the Factory 2023 release date
Inside the Factory returns to BBC Two on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 8 pm with six brand-new episodes that are set to air weekly.
You can catch up on episodes once they have aired on BBC iPlayer.
Who are the hosts of Inside the Factory 2023?
Once again, Inside the Factory is fronted by the dynamic duo of Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey, as they are given exclusive access to some of the largest factories in Britain to reveal the secrets behind production on an epic scale.
However, it was recently reported that this series would be Gregg's last after the presenter announced he would be stepping down from the show he's co-hosted since 2015 to look after his young son, Sid, who has autism.
What happens in the first episode of Inside the factory 2023?
The first episode of Inside the Factory is one you will NOT want to miss, as it focuses on... drum roll please... Jaffa Cakes!
As a nation, we LOVE Jaffa Cakes, spending around £88 million on the chocolatey, zesty, spongy treats every year. In the first of the new series, Gregg and Cherry visit McVitie’s factory in Stockport — which makes 1.4 billion Jaffa Cakes annually — to follow the journey from batter to baking and to settle the debate: is a Jaffa Cake a cake or a biscuit?
"We’re making a sponge cake mix but, in shops, Jaffa Cakes can often be found in the biscuit aisle," says Gregg. "The consequence of confusing these two products can be extremely costly."
This episode also lifts the lid on the multi-million pound Jaffa Cakes court case that really took the biscuit!
Jaffa Cakes were always regarded as cakes but, in 1991, their identity was under scrutiny, when Her Majesty's Customs and Excise switched Jaffa Cakes’ status from a cake, an ‘essential’ food, to a ‘luxury’ chocolate biscuit — for which VAT would need to be paid.
In the multi-million-pound court battle that followed, McVitie's baked a giant Jaffa Cake to prove to the taxman that its product was a cake, not a biscuit. McVitie’s eventually tasted sweet success as Jaffa Cakes were formally recognized as chocolate-covered CAKES.
At the factory, an excited Gregg watches as his batch of 38,000 baked, jammed and chocolate-covered Jaffa Cakes come off the production line.
"It’s impressive, the precision that goes into making these little Jaffa Cakes, from the batter that’s the perfect consistency, to the jam that sets just seconds before it’s flipped into the chocolate," he says. "But what amazes me is that six million Jaffa Cakes fly out of this factory every day. That’s a lot of cakes — definitely not biscuits!"
What will be covered in the rest of the series?
The other episodes in the series explore how some of our favorite foods are made, including pork pies, crumpets, vegan sausages, rice pudding and mints.
Enjoy... we're off to get some Jaffa Cakes!
Is there a trailer for Inside the Factory 2023?
No, sadly there isn't a trailer for the new season of Inside the Factory, but is one is released by the BBC then we will add it to this guide.
