Samworth Brothers

What Samworth Brothers does

Samworth Brothers Limited is a fourth-generation family-owned food manufacturer founded in 1896 and headquartered in Melton Mowbray, United Kingdom. The company produces and distributes chilled and ambient food products across four primary categories: Food To Go (sandwiches, wraps, salads), Savoury Pastry (pork pies, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls), Meals (prepared meals), and Protein (sausages, cooked meats, pâté, bacon). It manufactures under owned consumer brands including Ginsters, Soreen, Higgidy, Urban Eat, West Cornwall Pasty Co., Dickinson & Morris, and Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, and also produces private label products for major UK supermarket chains. The company operates 15 bakeries across the UK and one facility in Dublin, Ireland, supported by 12,500 employees and an integrated temperature-controlled supply chain division with 10,000+ pallets of storage, 120+ articulated vehicles, 240 trailers, and a 185-van Food For Now delivery fleet. Reported turnover is £1.6bn for FY2024/25, with over 1 billion products manufactured annually.

The business model is primarily B2B, selling through sales-led relationships to major UK supermarket chains, convenience stores, hospitality venues, travel outlets, and food service operators, with additional direct-to-consumer food-to-go distribution through the Food For Now division. Revenue streams include branded food product sales, private label manufacturing, distribution services (both internal and third-party), and ancillary food safety testing through Westward Laboratories. Key regulatory and brand assets include EU protected designation of origin status for Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Cornish pasties. The company reinvests profits and commits 1% of profit to charitable causes annually; it is entirely family-owned with no external investors, no public listing, and no parent company. Recent strategic activity has centered on selective acquisitions (The Real Wrap Company, Urban Eat, Higgidy), digital supply chain transformation via the RELEX platform across 19 sites, and sustainability R&D including a seaweed-based packaging partnership with Aberystwyth University.

Name

Samworth Brothers

Legal name

Samworth Brothers Limited

Website

https://samworthbrothers.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1896

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Samworth Brothers is a UK family-owned food manufacturer producing chilled and ambient food (sandwiches, pork pies, pasties, prepared meals, sausages) under brands like Ginsters, Soreen, and Higgidy for major retailers and food service across 15 UK bakeries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Manufacturing

NAICS

Other Snack Food Manufacturing (311919)

SIC

Bakery Products (2050), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Cold Prepared Foods & Meal Components (Sides, Proteins, Family Meals) (CRAHAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Pizza, Wings & Oven-Baked Prepared Foods (In-Store Concepts) (CRAHAKAE)

Keywords

• Chilled food manufacturing
• Private label food production
• Food-to-go products
• Savoury pastry manufacturing
• Temperature-controlled logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Melton Mowbray

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices14 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Branded Food Products: Manufacturing and sale of food products under owned brands including Ginsters (Cornish pasties), Soreen (malt loaf), Higgidy (pies, quiches), Urban Eat (food-to-go), West Cornwall Pasty Co., Dickinson & Morris, and Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe to major retailers.
2. Private Label Manufacturing: Manufacturing sandwiches, prepared meals, savoury pastries and other food products for major UK supermarket chains under their own private label brands.
3. Food For Now Distribution: Chilled and frozen food-to-go distribution service with 185 vans delivering products from Samworth Brothers brands and third-party brands to retail outlets.
4. Supply Chain Services: Temperature controlled distribution services provided to both Samworth Brothers businesses and external chilled food manufacturers and retailers, operating from chilled distribution sites in Leicester, Penrith, Callington and Bristol.
5. Food Testing Laboratory: Westward Laboratories provides food safety testing and expertise services to Samworth Brothers businesses and other external food companies.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Samworth Brothers manufactures and distributes chilled and ambient food products, including sandwiches, prepared meals, savoury pastries (Melton Mowbray pork pies, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls, quiches), cooked meats, sausages, salads, and malt loaf. The company sells under its own heritage brands (Ginsters, Soreen, Higgidy, Urban Eat, West Cornwall Pasty Co., Dickinson & Morris, Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, Walkers Deli & Sausage Co.) as well as under private label for major UK retailers, complemented by in-house temperature-controlled distribution and food testing services.

Product overview

Samworth Brothers is a family-owned food manufacturing company operating as a portfolio of distinct sub-brands and product categories. The core products include Food To Go (sandwiches, wraps, salads), Savoury Pastry (pork pies, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls), Meals (prepared meals), and Protein (sausages, cooked meats). Key sub-brands include Ginsters (Cornish pasties), Soreen (malt loaf), Higgidy (pies and quiches), Urban Eat (food-to-go), West Cornwall Pasty Co., Dickinson & Morris, and Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe. The company is supported by internal businesses including Samworth Brothers Supply Chain (logistics and distribution) and Food For Now (food-to-go delivery service).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ginsters: The nation's favourite Cornish Pasty. With over 50 years of baking expertise, our chefs are dedicated to creating the best quality pasties, slices and rolls from our home in Cornwall.
• Soreen
• Higgidy
• Urban Eat
• West Cornwall Pasty Co.
• Dickinson & Morris
• Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe

Products and services

• Ginsters The nation's favourite Cornish pasty brand, producing authentic Cornish pasties, slices, sausage rolls, pies, quiches and party food from Cornwall. Sold to major UK retailers, convenience stores, and food service operators.
• Soreen The UK's favourite malt loaf brand, producing malt loaf products including Snack Pack, Lunchbox Loaves and Lift Bars. Sold through UK retailers.
• Higgidy Wholesome bakers of pies, quiches and savoury snacks. Manufactured at the Shoreham-by-Sea facility and sold through UK retailers.
• Urban Eat A leading food-on-the-go brand offering sandwiches, wraps, hot eats, salads and snacks. Sold through UK retailers, convenience stores and food service operators.
• West Cornwall Pasty Co. A premium pasty brand with 25+ year heritage serving hand-crimped, freshly-baked authentic Cornish pasties across the UK. Sold through retail and food service channels.
• Dickinson & Morris Award-winning maker of handcrafted authentic Melton Mowbray Pork Pies for over 170 years, holding protected designation of origin status. Sold through UK retail and food service.
• Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe Retail pork pie shop in Melton Mowbray, the spiritual home of the pork pie, producing authentic pork pies.
• Walkers Deli & Sausage Co. Largest UK producer of pâté, manufacturing sausages, cooked meats, ham, pâté, bacon and snacking products from four Leicester facilities. Over 100 million units of protein products produced annually. Sold to UK retailers.
• Food To Go (Private Label) Private-label sandwiches, wraps, toasties, salads, porridge, hot eats and breakfast products manufactured at Bradgate Bakery and Manton Wood for major UK supermarket and convenience chains. Includes UK and Ireland production at Freshways Food Co (Dublin).
• Prepared Meals Prepared chilled ready meals developed by restaurant-trained chefs, spanning British classics, Italian, Tex-Mex and healthier options, produced at Kettleby Foods, Saladworks, Melton Foods and Freshways Food Co. Sold to major UK retailers.
• Samworth Brothers Supply Chain Temperature-controlled B2B storage and distribution services for both Samworth Brothers businesses and external chilled food manufacturers and retailers. Operates from chilled distribution sites in Leicester, Penrith, Callington and Bristol with over 10,000 pallets of chill, deep chill and frozen storage capacity, blast freezers, temper rooms, 49 double deck bays, and leading-edge real-time stock visibility technology.
• Samworth Brothers Food For Now Complete chilled and frozen food-to-go delivery service with 380 colleagues and 185 vans delivering products from Samworth Brothers brands and third-party brands to high street stores, travel network outlets, workplaces, health, education and retail outlets seven days a week.
• Westward Laboratories Purpose-built food safety testing laboratory providing trusted industry-leading food safety expertise and testing services to Samworth Brothers businesses and other external food companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 billion products manufactured annually
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Aberystwyth UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026Research partnership with Aberystwyth University's Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences to develop seaweed-based plastic film for food packaging. The project uses alginate extracted from seaweed to create a biodegradable, transparent alternative to conventional fossil-fuel plastics, supported by BBSRC funding.
• RELEXcoreTechnology or Integration · 2 February 2026RELEX provides Retail Connected Planning platform integrating sell-in planning with real-time sell-out data. Samworth Brothers unified planning across 19 sites using RELEX platform for improved supply chain visibility and demand forecasting.
• The Real Wrap CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 April 2024Samworth Brothers completed acquisition of The Real Wrap Company, a sandwich manufacturer operating in Avonmouth and Aylesbury. This followed a previous minority stake in 2023. The acquisition aims to support the growth of The Real Wrap Company's operations and product development.
• Coronation Food ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 November 2021Partnership with Coronation Food Project to help reduce food waste and provide meals to those in need. Over 500,000 meals delivered through this initiative.
• HiggidycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 June 2019Samworth Brothers acquired a minority stake in Higgidy with option to increase stake in subsequent years. Higgidy produces pies, quiches and savoury snacks from their Shoreham-by-Sea facility.
• WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSignatory to UK Plastics Pact, a trailblazing collaborative initiative led by WRAP that aims to create a circular economy for plastics. Part of Samworth Brothers' Today, Tomorrow, Together Responsible Business Strategy and Project Blue Planet.
• FareShareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood surplus redistribution partnership through which Samworth Brothers has donated approximately 795,254 meals. Also partnered for Honest Crust brand launch.
• Food Industry Initiative on Antimicrobials (FIIA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSamworth Brothers participates in FIIA which brings together retailers, manufacturers, processors and food service companies to promote responsible antimicrobial use and action on antimicrobial resistance.
• QuornminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGinsters partnered with Quorn to create the Ginsters Vegan Quorn Pasty - co-branded plant-based pasty available nationwide.
• Old El PasominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Old El Paso brand to create meals with their distinctive style and flavour combinations at Kettleby Foods and Saladworks sites.
• BookerminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExhibitor at UK Food & Drink Shows 2026 along with Coca-Cola, LavAzza, itsu and Samworth Brothers brands.
• The Company ShopminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Leicester City Council holiday food programme providing surplus food to families through pop-up community pantries.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Samworthbrothers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/samworth-brothers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries20 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Samworth Brothers