In 1930, the
world wide trade depression had seriously affected
British Industry and M & P had suffered with the
rest. The Directors were, therefore, on the lookout for
new lines to manufacture, which would help to keep the
works, occupied, and bring more business to the Company. At that time the
Canning Industry in Great Britain was comparatively small
and most of the equipment was being imported, largely
from America. The Board of Trade were anxious to find
British sources of manufacture for imported machinery,
including Canning Machinery, and the few British Canners
also wished to become less dependent upon imported Plant. M & P Ltd.
were approached by the Board of Trade, with the support
of British Canners and, eventually, decided to go into
this entirely new line of business, despite the fact that
they would have to meet competition from established
manufacturers from overseas. It seemed to be a sound
long-term policy as the need to produce more food at home
was generally recognised, and there appeared to be the
beginnings of an agricultural revival. Furthermore,
practically no other British firms were, at that time,
making Canning Machinery and it was considered that a
good start could be made with the Home Market. The
Canning Industry itself was not new. The earliest
commercial experiments had taken place during the French
Revolutionary Wars, about the time that the first Mather
of this History settled in Salford. In 1804, Nicholas
Appert invented a method of preserving food by sealing it
hermetically in containers in a sterile condition and
thereby won a prize of 12,000 Francs offered by Napoleon
for improved methods of preserving food for the Army and
Navy. However, it was an Englishman, Peter Durand, who
first used tinplate steel containers for preserving food,
obtaining a Patent in 1810 for a process of
“preserving animal vegetable and other perishable
foods by heat followed by hermetically sealing in vessels
made of glass, pottery, tin or any metal or fit
materials”. Some of the first metal vessels
developed were known as tin cases, or canisters, and from
this name the Americans have adopted the word.
“Can”, and the British the word
“Tin”. Tins of Australian mutton were on show
at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and canned meat was used
successfully for the first time by British troops in The
Crimean War. The expression "Iron
Rations” resulted. However, the
early development of the Canning Industry met continual
checks due to an incomplete understanding of the
scientific problems involved, and the lack of hygienic
methods and equipment. Canned food was often regarded as
being dangerous or unpleasant and the growth of the
Industry was largely fostered by the demands made upon it
in time of War. Despite
its early start in Europe the centre of the Canning
Industry quickly moved to America, where the great
variety of Fruits and Vegetables which were available,
and the varied climate, lent themselves to an all-year
round canning cycle. The First World
War did much to stimulate the growing Canning Industry
and in the inter-war years, the civilian demand increased
sharply. The wide variety and improved quality of Canned
Food making it an accepted part of everyday diet, on both
sides of the Atlantic, so that the worker of the
1920’s was able to have a much greater choice of
food than the cotton operative of mid-Victorian
Manchester. In 1924, a Special Commissioner who was sent
to Canada and the United States, reported that the
development of a large British industry was feasible,
providing that modern machinery and methods were used. Mather &
Platt’s entry into the Food Machinery Industry, in
1930, was followed by a Canners Convention a year later,
in Manchester, when the Firm was able to entertain
delegates to Park Works to study the latest machines they
had to offer. The
new Food Machinery Department was started first as a
branch of the General Machinery or Textile Department,
though it drew its small staff from both it and from the
Pump Department. The start was only a small one; the new
line of production was difficult to develop, particularly
during those depression years, the Americans had had much
experience of designing Food Machinery, particularly
automatic machinery, and it was felt that if further
progress was to be made, that the Company would have to
work closely with an American firm of experience. In 1932, an
Agreement was made with the Food Machinery Corporation of
the United States, for the manufacture of some of their
standard Canning Equipment. A general Selling Company was
set up outside the United States and Canada, called
“Food Machinery (M & P) Ltd”, to sell both
American and British made machines, as was convenient. The new Company
faced a difficult period. The expansion of the Canning
Industry during the First World War had been considerable
and Canners’ investments in plant had often
outstripped the growth of the markets for their products.
Even by 1926, when the General Trade Depression had
receded, the new Company did not come up to expectations,
although it had served a useful purpose in opening up
fresh markets in Britain and also overseas. However, it
was mutually decided to close down the sales Company,
Food Machinery (M & P) Ltd although the friendly
relationship between the Food Machinery Corporation and.
Mather & Platt Ltd continued. Visits and ideas were
exchanged and certain American Patents were retained.
Nevertheless, the business continued, to expand slowly
and the Department was able to justify its existence. When the Second
World War broke out, the small Food Machinery Department
turned to Government Contracts, and while making a
certain amount of Dehydration Plant for the Ministry of
Agriculture, its productive capacity was largely devoted
to War Contracts, which had no relationship to Food
Machinery. It was not until
the end of the War that the demand for British Made Food
Machinery really increased. The great use which was made
of Canned Food by all of the conflicting Nations,
stimulated the civilian demand and made the general
public expect to have Canned Food as part of their daily
ration. At the same time, the demand for all other
products of the Firm had correspondingly increased and to
relieve the congestion at Park Works, a lease was taken
of the Royal Ordnance Factory at Radcliffe. The whole of
the Food Machinery Department, being the smallest and
most compact Department in the Firm, was moved there.
This Works was suitable for light engineering, and that
part of the Factory which was not required for Food
Machinery became an overflow for the other departments at
Park Works. The inevitable
teething troubles which followed on from a move of this
sort were made worse, by the general post war conditions.
Irregular, or short, deliveries of raw materials and
bought out parts, wide varieties in quality, and
unexpected delays or shortages, created many new problems
which had to be tackled, by comparatively inexperienced
workpeople and staff, many of whom had but recently
returned from the War. Nevertheless, the Department set
about putting its house in order with enthusiasm and in
its new home, expanded rapidly. Meanwhile, by the end of
the War, the various patents and manufacturing agreements
with the Food Machinery Corporation and its subsidiaries
had run out and consideration had to be given to future
policy. Before
the War, a useful trade had been carried on in Europe.
This was done partially by export, and partially by local
manufacture. In France, Brittany was the main centre of
vegetable and fish canning and in this area S.A. Mather
& Platt had made arrangements with a local firm at
Quimper, Establissements Jean Louarn, to manufacture any
Food Machinery which, for various reasons could
not be imported. Similarly, in Belgium, an arrangement
was made with the firm of Edouard Lecluyse in Antwerp,
and Food Machinery of Mather & Platt design was
manufactured in both Factories for sale in Europe. During the War,
when all trade with Europe ceased, the French Company had
to fall back on its own resources and in order to
continue the Food Machinery business, made arrangements
to finance Jean Louarn so as to expand his Works and
manufacture machines which had previously been imported
from England, and others which were developed in France
during the course of the War. This initiative on the part
of the French Staff not only kept the business alive, but
resulted in a healthy expansion after the war was over. In
Belgium, during the German Occupation, matters took a
different turn. A German Firm of Food Machinery
Manufacturers, Karges-Hammer A.G., came to an Agreement
with Edouard Lecluyse whereby they took over and expanded
his business, building a new Factory which provided
machinery to can German Army Rations. They acquired
technical information and drawings, which had been the
property of Mather & Platt Ltd and were also able to
continue certain development work which was being
undertaken in the Belgian Factory. At
the end of the War, this Factory was sequestrated by the
Belgian Custodian of Enemy Property, and offered for
sale. A series of negotiations then took place amongst
interested parties, principally the Food Machinery
Corporation of America, the Sobemi Company (Can
Manufacturing Concern) of Belgium, and Mather & Platt
Ltd. These negotiations naturally linked up with future
manufacturing policy between the Food Machinery
Corporation and Mather & Platt Ltd., and the renewal,
or otherwise, of their association. Final proposals were
that a new International Company should be formed called
the “International Machinery Corporation”
operating from the Lecluyse/Karges-Hammer Factory at
Antwerp, and jointly owned by the interested parties. In
addition, it was suggested that Mather & Platt’s
Canning Department should be incorporated in the new
Company and some form of rationalised production arranged
between the new Antwerp Factory and the new Factory at Radcliffe. These
proposals were not acceptable to Mather & Platt Ltd,
since it was felt that complete control of the Radcliffe
Factory should be retained within the general framework
of the Company. Accordingly, no new arrangements were
made with the Food Machinery Corporation and the I.M.C.
was formed, in conjunction with the Sobemi Co., and a
number of leading can making companies but without Mather
& Platt Ltd. This new Company, and also the Food
Machinery Corporation, thus came into direct competition
with the British firm. Most
of the Food Machinery Department’s early machines
were of American design or based upon American designs
and during the War, the Americans had done much research
and development work which resulted in new and up to date
models. In Great Britain, all efforts had had to be
concentrated on the War, and development work on Food
Machinery had not been permitted. The end of the
War, and the non-continuance of the American agreements
thus threw a heavy load, on the drawing office and design
staff, and much development and experimental work had to
be taken on at Radcliffe, and in the expanded and jointly
owned French Company at Quimper. During the next five
busy years, nearly every machine was re-designed or
replaced, and a number of new machines and processes were
evolved. One of the most outstanding of these was the
patented new Fish Canning Line developed by the French
Company which, in addition to providing an improved
quality, reduced the time required for extracting the
organic moisture from the fish, from some twelve hours to
about fifteen minutes. Research and
development work was intensified, in close co-operation,
as previously, with the University of Bristol Fruit and
Vegetable Preservation Research Station at Campden. One
machine evolved as a direct result of this co-operation
was the Stero-Washer which, working on the contraflow
principle, was able to reduce the bacteriological
infection of peas about eightfold. Perhaps the
most interesting and. revolutionary machine developed by
the Department was the Non-Agitating Automatic Continuous
Pressure Cooker. This machine was originally developed
and patented in 1933, in conjunction with Campden and was
designed to take advantage of the short time, high
temperature cooking theory, which the Research Station
had advanced. All vegetable packs are sterilised by being
held at a high temperature for a given time - the higher
the temperature, the shorter the time. It was found that
peas which required sterilising in the ordinary retorts
for 30 minutes at 2400F in the new Cooker only
required 11 minutes at 260 0F. This shorter
time not only produced a better looking and more
economical pack, but also resulted in a higher nutritive
value. Continual advances were made in the design of
these Cookers and by 1951 they were capable of running
continuously at speeds of 200 cans per minute and more,
and even handling aluminium cans. These machines being
about the only satisfactory non-agitating automatic
Pressure Cookers found a wide market both at home and
overseas. The range of
Food Machinery manufactured by Mather & Platt Ltd,
included not only machines for Canning, but also machines
for general food purposes such as Root Vegetable and
other Washers, Food Pumps, Grain Dryers and Glass Jar
Dryers, Peelers for all types of fruit and vegetables,
Graders by size, weight or specific gravity, many forms
of Cutters, Choppers, Dicers and Slicers, Filling and
Inspection Tables and Conveyers which handle a great
variety of items. The M & P
designed Pea Viner, embodying several new features, and
having a higher throughput than competitive models, found
ready markets, several hundreds being sold at home and
overseas. A Mather &
Platt Canning Line is fully automatic, and processing
times and temperatures can be controlled by the operation
of instruments alone. A good example is the Pea Line. The
Pea Vine is reaped in the field and loaded automatically
onto a Trailer. It is then tipped alongside the Viner
into which it is fed. with pitch forks. The shelled peas
are delivered from one side of the Viner at the rate of
about 30 cwts per hour and the waste vine is carried away
on a Conveyor to be made into silage. The peas are then
elevated into the Winnower, which cleans them, gravitate
through a Washer and are pumped to the Grader and again
to the next process of Blanching. Here the intercellular
gases are driven out, surface infections are removed and
the peas are thoroughly cleaned. They are then cooled and
washed again, passing over a Picking Table where they are
visually inspected for the removal of sub-standard peas.
They are then washed again, pass through a machine to
remove splits and skins, elevated to a Hopper, from which
they gravitate to the Filler and then into the can
together with a measured quantity of brine. The filled
cans then pass through an Exhauster system which, by
heating the can and its contents, drives off the air and
ensures a good vacuum in the can after the next process
of seaming on the lids. The closed cans then travel
through an automatic Pressure Cooker and Cooler from
where they roll away to be labelled and cased, or stored.
Similar lines are made for handling other Vegetables,
Fruits and Fish while specialised machines can be
incorporated in the Lines to adapt them for Soup, Milk or
Meat. Throughout the whole of this process, no part of the pea or pea vine need be touched by hand, and the peas are usually in labelled cans, graded according to size, and cooked within four hours of the pea vine being reaped. An automatic line of this description can handle two hundred cans a minute with very little labour, and under complete and automatic process control. This chain of processes would amaze a housewife, and surprise an early pioneer like Appert. It is an excellent example of a revolution in the consumer industry, which has revealed yet again the close connection between technical invention and business enterprise. |
A History of Mather & Platt
Ltd.