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ADVERTORIAL FEATURE – SAMUEL GROVES
Left: Stainless steel tri-ply by Samuel Groves.
Pans for life With its focus on sustainability and innovation, Samuel Groves intends to put British cookware manufacturing on the world map. PH visited the artisan Birmingham factory that creates cookware and bakeware that will be lifetime companions.
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anaging director Lee McDonagh admits that he has sometimes received a “puzzled look of disbelief” when saying that he manufacturers cookware here in the UK (Yardley, Birmingham to be precise). But times are changing, and there is a rising interest in artisan manufacturing, sustainability, and UK production, both in the domestic market and worldwide. Heritage brand Samuel Groves has a lot to offer that other brands cannot. Since acquiring Samuel Groves six years ago (see ‘Family affair’), Lee has been focusing on the retail market, addressing trends and listening to customers. “We’ve evolved massively – we saw the value of combining Samuel Groves’ tooling capacity with advances in materials to create world class cookware for discerning home cooks.” The brand has moved a long way from its traditional aluminium products for the wholesale catering market. Samuel Groves produces unique hand finished cookware, which uses innovative materials and addresses the rise of induction cooking. Its ranges include Stainless Steel Triply, which combines the heat conductivity of aluminium in the core
A lifetime of cooking
Above: Md Lee McDonagh with Sharon Haines, business manager and Dominic Fraser, production manager for Samuel Groves. Below: Hand pressing in the factory.
layer with the benefits of dishwasher safe stainless steel. With a 3mm pan body, it provides the heaviest quality on the market, with greater thermal efficiency as heat travels up the sides, rather than stopping in the wedge base typical of other cookware brands. “There is an even cooking temperature and less energy is used,” highlights Lee. Samuel Groves’ innovation includes induction compatible 4-ply Copper. “We have developed a process of polishing the outer base layer of copper, revealing the magnetic layer of 430 stainless steel for induction cooking,” Lee explains. “This keeps the excellent thermal conductivity of copper but, unlike other pans on the market, is not a bonded sandwich base and as a result PROGRESSIVE
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HOUSEWARES
Samuel Groves has launched a Pan for Life refurbishment scheme, meaning that consumers can return their Samuel Groves pans for recoating and repairs. The scheme comes after consultation with retailers. Consumers will be encouraged to register their Samuel Groves purchases to make use of the service. Lee reports: “ All non stick coatings degrade over time and the number of dishwasher cycles, so we are able to recoat all of our nonstick cookware, and replace any worn or damaged rivets. We will then re-polish our pans back to the state when they first came off the production line giving the consumer a true pan for life.” The cost of refurbishment will be approximately 25% of the cost of a new pan. Below: Pans are packaged in a reusable jute bag.