Ashford photographer gives behind the scenes glimpse at Premier Foods

An Ashford resident has shown what life is currently like behind the scenes at one of Britain’s largest food producers, earning her an enviable spot in an upcoming issue of Italian Vogue. Zuzana Valla, who works as an Improvement Technologist at the Premier Foods manufacturing site in Ashford, documented the efforts of her and the rest of the site team, who are working to keep the nation fed while adhering to strict social distancing and health and safety regulations.

Zuzana is an award-winning photographer in her spare time and has been a dedicated team member at Premier Foods for the last 12 years. She was inspired by the efforts of her colleagues to keep team spirit high while maintaining high manufacturing standards during the Covid pandemic and began capturing team members at work. Her photographs are also currently being considered for gallery inclusion later this year by The National Portrait Gallery, in addition to the Vogue Italia ‘All in this together’ collection.

Of the project, Zuzana comments: “One of my colleagues suggested that I capture these unusual times in photos and the response from the team has been fantastic. They are helping to bring ‘positive vibes’ to the company, acting as a reminder to everyone that we are playing an important role at a very difficult time.”

Simon Ellmore, factory general manager for Premier Foods, said: “Zuzana’s project really demonstrates how well our colleagues at Ashford are pulling together, as well as showing the pride we have in being part of a team that’s helping to feed the nation.

“Keeping our people safe is our priority at Premier Foods and as a food manufacturing business, our already stringent hygiene standards have been strengthened, and we have put a range of additional measures in place, such as social distancing wherever possible, restricted access to our sites, and managing the flow of colleagues around our sites. We are constantly conducting risk assessments on our manufacturing lines to identify any extra measures we can take, such as installing Perspex screens on some production lines.”

Premier Foods is one of Britain’s largest food producers and its portfolio includes some of the nation’s favourite brands, such as Ambrosia, Batchelors, Bisto and Mr Kipling. The site in Ashford manufactures products from Angel Delight, Bisto and Saxa among others, and employs 363 people.

All images from the project can be viewed via Zuzana Valla’s website: https://www.zuzuvalla.com/home.