What better opportunity than Pancake Day to look at what’s involved in the supply chain of some of our store cupboard ingredients? Here we ‘flip’ through a traditional pancake recipe to learn more about how these foodstuffs make it from source to pancake.
| Preparation time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins | Makes: 6 |
Plain Flour (100g)
Eggs (2)
Milk (300ml)
Vegetable Oil (1 tbsp)
To serve (Lemon juice, caster sugar, golden syrup, jam)
Plain FlourThe beginning of Lockdown in 2020 served as a reminder of how important flour is, remember the empty shelves and shortages! Wheat flour provides 20% of the energy consumed in the UK and it’s a key source of fibre and calcium. Five million tonnes of wheat are produce in the UK every year, with over one million tonnes exported. With only one harvest per year, effective moisture free storage is a focus for the industry. The majority of wheat is transported via road, with overseas transport carried out by container ships. Did you know? One whole grain of wheat makes over 20,000 particles of flour. |
EggsThe UK egg industry produces 11,388,000,000 eggs, and exports 271,000,000 of these worldwide – BIG numbers! On average we each consume around 197 eggs per year, and they are an essential ingredient in many of our foods, increasing the retail value of the egg market to over £1bn. Eggs are transported in temperature controlled vehicles, with specialist freight forwarding companies overseeing both national and international traceability of the product. Did you know? The colour of each egg depends on the breed of the laying hen. |
MilkThe subject of sustainable procurement within the UK milk supply chain has been of interest for a number of years, with us all wanting to know how the price of milk is divided between producers, distributors and supermarkets. Did you know? A dairy cow produces 7,600 litres of mile per year |
Vegetable OilThe oil & fat production market in the UK is valued at £1bn, with popular industry products being rapeseed oil, soyabean oil, sunflower oil and palm oil. Palm oil is the world’s most widely traded oil and with much attention turned to the sustainability of the production and impact on de-forestation, many supermarkets have committed to a zero-net deforestation initiative when sourcing the product. Did you know? The Netherlands is the UK’s leading supplier for vegetable oil |
