All language subtitles for inside.mcvities.2024.1080p.web.h264-cbfm

Grab a cup of tea and get
ready to dunk.

It's very sweet.

That's what we want in a biscuit.

Hobnobs.

Now that's true original.

For the last 190 years,

there is a company that has been
supplying biscuits

to a hungry nation.

It's an awful lot of biscuits.

McVitie's.

They are risking nearly two
centuries of biscuit domination

with a bold new strategy...

I'll take it from here.

..a new advert campaign they hope
will bring their image

and their biscuits bang up to
date for a modern consumer...

WHOOPING

We've got to keep our eye
on the ball all the time.

..as they try to sell more biscuits
to more people than ever before.

There's nothing moving.
Looks like we've got a problem.

Every hour counts.
Every case counts.

But this isn't the only
challenge facing McVitie's.

There is competition
and it's stiff competition.

They took a gamble on a huge
research and development project...

That crunch.

..to try and crack the
secret of a brand-new product...

So we really have no choice
but to get it right now.

So we've got a lot to worry
about today.

..the white chocolate digestive...

That's so disappointing.

As McVitie's gear up for their
most important year yet...

We're going to absolutely
smash that order.

..we go behind the scenes to
discover

just how one of the nation's best
selling biscuit brands

works their magic.

Patience, patience. As they say,
keep calm and carry on.

Great Britain loves a biscuit.

Over half a million tons
are eaten every year.

Hobnobs is one of the best
product I love.

It's crunchy and it's sweet.

HE LAUGHS

And the competition is tough.

The biscuit business is worth
almost £3.5 billion.

I've got to get this right today,
because if I don't,

there's going to be a lot of
disappointed customers.

To keep up with the competition,

McVitie's have come
up with a risky new strategy.

The decision has been made to launch
a new version of one of the nation's

favourite biscuits, the digestive,

but covered in white chocolate.

Millions of pounds of development
is at risk.

For Managing Director David Murray,

it's a nervous time.

You don't have a way to anticipate
how people will respond to it.

I mean, the brand is almost 100
years old, the chocolate digestive.

McVitie's is almost 200 years old.

You imagine we can bring
in new biscuit out,

a chocolate digestive
that's white.

The last thing you want to do
is disappoint them and not deliver.

THEY CHATTER INDISTINCTLY

And that is not an option.

That's good.

That's a really good score.

The stakes are high.

A failed product launch
can fatally damage even

the biggest of companies.

Despite the pressure,

the development of the white
chocolate digestive

starts in an unusual way.

It smells milky, smells creamy.

Global Lead Product Development Chef
Robert Craggs is part of the team

that develops new products
for McVitie's.

He's an internationally renowned
chef, who, last year,

created a cake that was the
centrepiece

at a reception in Windsor to
celebrate the King's coronation.

Part of Robert's job when developing
anything new for McVitie's

is to hunt down how other products
might use a particular flavour

on something called a food safari.

Today's challenge to balance
the sweetness of white chocolate

with the hint of savoury found
in the digestive biscuit base.

So last week was a great week.

I was out exploring, uh, a city,
and my average step count last week

was 26,000 steps a day.

First stop is high-end chocolatier
William Curley

to sample an unexpected
combination of flavours.

So here we are,
the miso and white chocolate.

And this one excites me.
This is a clever chocolate.

At the very end,
you add a little bit of miso,

so we've got a kind of salty note
running through the chocolate.

Miso is a fermented soybean paste
found in Japanese soup,

not usually chocolate.

Eating white chocolate on its own
can be a little bit sickly

and a little bit sweet,
but I thought the miso just brings

a complete different dimension
running through it.

And you get a hint
of that saltiness.

Yeah, it's reminiscent
of our digestive base.

Having a little bit
of savouriness in there,

or less sweetness can make those
flavours absolutely sing and pop.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Next stop, white chocolate at the
other end of the scale.

Maybe we should go with a milky bar.

That's certainly, uh,
very nostalgic in the UK.

There's that classic
milky bar emblem.

Yeah, the classic milky bar aroma.

Yeah, it's lovely. It's creamy.
Those condensed milk notes.

Fabulous. Just what I remember.

For inspiration on combining white
chocolate and a crunchy biscuit,

Robert heads to foodie hotspot
Crumbs & Doilies bakery.

So what's really important,
certainly in the world that I'm in,

is that crunch of the biscuit.

What you can see there is some
of the soft, oozing

white chocolate chunks.

Absolutely fabulous.

Lovely, fatty, milky, creamy.

Yeah, you can smell.

And some of those malty
notes from the cereal.

Yeah. Yeah.

That crunch. Mm-hm.

And the immediate hit of, like, the
sweetness of the white chocolate.

You can hear
it and you can feel it,

you can... texture in your mouth,
you can feel the crunch.

You can hear it in your ears.

Most like a biscuit.

Fabulous, absolutely fabulous.

Full of sugar and spice and
probably some indigestion tablets,

Chef Robert returns to McVitie's HQ.

So what I've learned today
with white chocolate is that it...

The key things are we need some
of that condensed milk flavour,

that fatty mouthfeel
and a little hint of vanilla.

But it also needs to work with
salt and the base of our biscuit.

The launch of a single new biscuit
presents significant challenges,

even for a company the
size of McVitie's.

But not content with that,

they are about to undertake
another risky endeavour

- a massive new advertising campaign

that repositions their entire
range of products.

So the new ad campaign that we're
working on right now is...

..um, I guess it needs to be fitting
for a brand that's almost 200 years

old, but relevant today.

David has a clear vision
of what he wants,

and it's quite the balancing act to
take a heritage,

much-loved brand
and make it relevant.

It's got to be modern,
it's got to have the ability to

cut through and be remembered.

Um, it's got to drive sales.

So who could you ask to deliver
a message as complex as that?

None other than a true
broadcasting legend.

That OK?

DIRECTOR: The guy pretending to be
you, Trevor.

He's going to say
"Me, Trevor McDonald."

Yeah. And that's your cue to say...

The man behind the idea is Executive
Creative Director Paul Jordan.

We thought it'd be a brilliant
idea because if we think

about all of the own-brand biscuits
that are impersonating Mcvities,

we thought it would be really
fun to have someone

impersonating Sir Trevor.

So the way the commercial will work,

it will be a little bit
like a rug pull.

So we'll cut to what we think
is Sir Trevor McDonald

doing the voiceover.

But it's actually an impersonator.

And as the viewer feels a little bit
let down,

then we then hit them
with the real thing,

THE original Sir Trevor.

A 100-strong crew are filming
in a secret London location

to bring the new
McVitie's commercial to life.

This is a big production,
with a lot riding on its success.

..one, take one. Mark.

And quiet on set.

Ready, and action, Alan.

Me, Trevor McDonald.

Actually, it's SIR Trevor McDonald
and I'll take it from here.

Cut. Cut, good. Playback.

Reset.

MIMICS TREVOR:
He's so... well versed

in diction and so clear and clipped,
and he always ends each sentence

with a definite full stop.

NORMAL VOICE: So he's nice to do
once you get the rhythm of him.

Sir Trevor soon discovers
there are right and wrong ways

to eat a biscuit.

So show the camera at the back
of your hand. That's...

That's better. Much better.

OK. That's more natural then.
OK. Thanks.

But Director Sam Pilling is on hand
to get the best performance.

Obviously, he's very good in
front of the camera,

but it's doing something that's
slightly out of his comfort zone.

Um, so I'm making sure that
he feels very relaxed.

That's the biggest thing
that we really have to nail today.

Actually, it's SIR Trevor McDonald,
and I'll take it from here.

Trevor's a newsreader. He's not an
actor, but he did a brilliant job of
that for us today.

And he smashed it. And he bit the
biscuit 20-30 times

and looked like he loved
it each time.

TREVOR LAUGHS

But Sir Trevor isn't the only star
on the set of the advert.

When we actually shoot the biscuits,
we've actually...

Because obviously a lot of them are
made with chocolate,

under lots of lights, they're going
to get hot, they might melt.

So we've actually got a
model biscuit.

Um, a one model biscuit,
which is 200% of the actual size.

That's the fastest they can do.

Come back, Pete, come back.

At the end of the day,
we're here to sell biscuits,

so they have to look delicious.

And, um, and also a bit fun as well.

You know, it's biscuits,
it's sweets, it's a treat.

And that is a wrap.

For McVitie's biscuits
mean business.

They've been baking for almost two
centuries and despite being one

of the oldest biscuit companies
in the country,

they never stop innovating.

It's something that is always on
Managing Director David Murray's
mind.

The biscuit market is changing,
like every market,

for good and for bad.

You know, we could say a
lot of things change.

Um, there's a lot of choice
out there.

Um, there's a lot of great
products out there.

Um, so our job in McVitie's
is to continue to provide

the best biscuits.

And they have taken a gamble
with the launch of their new take

on one of Britain's favourite
biscuits - the digestive.

Global Lead Product Development Chef
Robert Craggs,

is the man charged with creating
the white chocolate

for the new digestive,
and he has done his research.

Back at McVitie's research
and development lab,

Chef Robert is ready for the next
stage of the process.

Right, then, so what we've got
on the table today

is some white chocolate.

From drinks to bars, cookies
and doughnuts,

it's this palette of flavours
that will help Chef Robert decide

what he wants his recipe
to taste like.

So what we will do today
is we will get under the skin

of the flavour of white chocolate,

and then we work out what we want
our biscuit to taste of.

He is starting with Britain's
favourite - Milky Bar,

which sells 1.9 billion white
chocolate buttons every year.

One of the favourites was the Milky
Bar, one of a tried and trusted,

I suppose, benchmarks and, uh, um,
widely recognised white chocolates

of the UK market.

So how this is going to help inform
the white chocolate digestive

is each one of these products, uh,
display different attributes?

Maybe some are very caramelised,
some are very buttery,

some are very milky or dairy,

some have vanilla,
some have less vanilla.

Next for Chef Robert is to
identify the flavour attributes

he likes for a white chocolate
recipe that will work

with the slightly savoury
digestive base.

I'm really looking forward
to what we do next

with the white chocolate digestive.

Over days and weeks of testing,
the recipe will be refined.

The next stage of the process

is taking the
perfect tasting chocolate

and making sure it can be applied
to the biscuit base.

It's the biggest launch of the year,
so it's one of our real priorities.

And it's a lot trickier
than you might think.

It's not a case of just putting
white chocolate on the top

of a digestive.

We need to really understand
how we can really optimise

the overall eat experience.

At just 29, Lead Product Development
Manager Sophie Steels

already has an impressive track
record in the food industry.

She has helped create some
of the country's best-loved

new products, from breads
to pesto and now biscuits.

So a lot of work has already gone
in behind the scenes on us choosing

the best chocolate.

And now, today, I really
need to work on making sure

that chocolate is processable
in the factory.

Chef Robert has asked Sophie
to look at three different

white chocolate mixtures.

They taste the same,
but have different consistencies.

So we've obviously made
the biscuits,

and now we're going to look at some
different chocolate options

to see which one sticks
to the biscuit best.

A number of things can affect
the consistency of chocolate,

including quantity
of key ingredients,

like fat and emulsifiers.

So this is one of our options of
different viscosities that we've...

we're trialling today.

So it's really starting
to drip down the sides here.

So I think that'll be really
challenging in automated process.

Obviously when it turns
over at the end,

that's going to be quite challenging
around the sides,

if the chocolate's that liquid.

Yeah, it's likely to slide
over the rollers.

And it also might be flicking
bits off.... Yeah.

..and I think we might see
challenges there.

So batch one, the chocolate covering
on the biscuit is too thin.

So we can see that it's not
spreading as nicely as the last one,

and you can see the lines
of the palette knife in it.

And it'd be very difficult
when the chocolate goes

through the line.

So in the factory the biscuit comes
like this through the chocolate

pushed by a wire belt.

So that's how the chocolate
gets stuck on.

And so because this being thicker,
that will be more challenging for us

to use in a factory setting.

So this one is going to
have to be a no,

because it is too thick
for us to use.

And batch two is too thick.

Hopefully the final one
is just right.

So let's try that third one
and hopefully that gives us

a better visual.

I think it's the clear winner
of the three of them.

I think it's giving us the best
coverage.

We're not seeing any drips
down the side.

This is the best option
we have going into the factory,

and I can't foresee any
major challenges.

While the development of the white
chocolate digestive

might have passed the lab test and
be one step closer to production,

elsewhere, McVitie's are busy making
their tried and tested favourites.

Whether it's a new version of white,
dark or milk,

chocolate is a key
ingredient for McVitie's.

Almost half their biscuits
contain it in some form.

They use so much of it they own
their own chocolate refinery

in Stockport, where they produce
74 tonnes a day.

It's a good job, really, isn't
it, that I like chocolate.

Looking after all that chocolate
falls to refinery operator,

Tracy Cusack, who started working
at McVitie's almost ten years ago,

making Jaffa Cakes.

We've got to keep our eye
on the ball all the time.

Quality and the product
being correct is essential.

The key ingredients in milk
chocolate are cocoa butter,

cocoa mass, sugar and milk powder,
which are all mixed together.

So you just feel the consistency now
that there's not any hard lumps

in it, or not any big lumps
of sugar or one ingredient.

That's just what we're looking for.

Next, they are ground to a fine
chocolate flake.

It is a tough job, I was 8st
when I started.

The final stage is conching.

Six hours of mixing and heating
to form liquid chocolate

and develop flavour, texture
and aroma.

Once mixed, the chocolate
is stored in heated tanks.

So each tank holds 36 tons
and we've got 16 tanks.

So at any one time we've got over
£1 million worth

in chocolate in this room.

Which is quite a lot of chocolate,
isn't it?.

Tracy needs to test each
batch of chocolate

for viscosity or runniness.

With 26 tons of chocolate riding
on this test result, it has to meet

McVitie's exacting standards.

So the viscosity is the thickness
of it.

It's got to be in a certain spec,
otherwise it'd run

off the Chocolate Hobnobs.

Obviously they wouldn't be Chocolate
Hobnobs they'd be just Hobnobs.

So everything's got to be correct.

You don't want it looking dull
and motley as such.

You want it looking nice and shiny.

Obviously, you eat with your
eyes, don't you?

Test is ready.

So that's spot on, we'll be able
to send it

down to Harlesden this afternoon.

With the chocolate ready, Tracy
hands over her precious cargo

to truck driver Paul.

All right, Paul, are we loading
Harlesden, then?

Yeah. For milk chocolate, yeah?

This batch of chocolate is destined
for McVitie's factory in Harlesden,

west London, the largest
biscuit factory in Europe,

where it will find its way
onto a Hobnob.

Right, you want to get this done,
Trace? Yeah.

With the tanker heated
at 50 degrees, 26 tons

of liquid chocolate is loaded.

That should be running now.

So today's chocolate is worth
about £50,000.

That's quite a lot of money, isn't
it, to be sending down.

You've got a lot of
responsibility, Paul.

Well, it's just all in a day's work.

That's it, now everything's done
and we can go back in

and start it all again.

Back at Mcvities HQ, managing
director, David Murray,

has gathered his marketing team to
give his opinion on the new advert

starring Sir Trevor McDonald.

This a big day for us.

Very excited.

Er, I think a tad nervous
because we've such

huge shoes to fill in the legacy
of the McVitie's advertising

over the years, but this is
a brilliant team.

I have no doubt they'll have
done a wonderful job.

And, yeah, really looking forward
to seeing the new ad.

Ready.

There can be only one.

There's only one king.

One goat...

GOAT BLEATS

One hedgehog...

..and only one biscuit
for your biscuit break.

The true original and one
person to tell you about it.

Me, Trevor McDonald.

Actually, it's Sir Trevor McDonald.

And I'll take it from here.

McVitie's, true originals.

Brilliant, brilliant, well done!
Absolutely brilliant.

I'm blown away.

I'm blown away by the ad.

Uh, it's exceeded my expectations.

The final edit is just incredible.

It's come together so well,
I think the guys

have done an amazing job putting
it together.

And I think the end, the end with
the British icon,

the true original, Sir Trevor,
I mean, it is just brilliant.

I just couldn't have asked
for a better outcome.

So super chuffed.

The advert is a hit with David,
but for the development

of the new white
chocolate digestive,

there are still important
tests to overcome.

Including being signed off
by McVitie's very own team

of professional biscuit tasters.

OK, and what about bitterness?

OK. Very little amount
of bitterness?

Yeah?

McVitie's might be the country's
biscuit market leader with sweet

treats in 75% of all UK homes.

But they aren't complacent.

They are counting on the success
of their new white chocolate

digestive to deliver them an even
bigger slice of the biscuit market,

and things are looking good.

The chef likes the taste.

Very caramelic, a little
hint of vanilla.

It's very tasty.

The scientist likes the texture.

I definitely think this is the best
option that we've seen today.

Just one hurdle left.

It needs to get past people
with possibly the very

best job in the world.

My name is Rachel and I'm a
professional biscuit taster.

To be honest, to become a
professional biscuit taster,

I think you have to have
a particular palate

and to be able to differentiate
certain flavours,

certain tastes and textures.

And to be honest, I'm not so much
of a biscuit fan any more.

I don't really eat them myself much.

I get enough at work.

You all right, Karen? Yes, thank
you, you good?

Yeah, not bad, you know, the usual.

These are McVitie's very
own crack team

of professional biscuit tasters.

People with highly developed taste
buds who can tell the difference

between tiny amounts of salt,
sweet, bitter and sour.

If they don't like how a biscuit
prototype tastes,

it won't go into production.

We have such a diverse group within
the panel because we're all

brought together through our taste
buds, which is quite an unusual...

..grouping of people.

They are led by sensory
panel leader, Tom Holmes.

Hello, guys.

So today we are going to start off
with some training

on some sweet biscuits.
So just one sample.

Then we will try that with some
dunking in some tea.

The super-tasters start each session
with some training to ensure

that they are tasting and reporting
flavour in the same way.

So we've got sample 361
for us today.

Sweet, salt, bitter. Sweet, salt...
Bitter. Yeah.

So where did we score sweetness
for sample 361?

54. 50. I'm on 50, yeah.

OK. And what about bitterness?

Ten. Very little amount of
bitterness.

No great surprises.

This is what we like to see
for something

like a digestive biscuit.

I'm a big fan of the white
chocolate digestives.

Yeah, having a sweet tooth is, er,
makes it all the better.

Yeah, and good for the job as well.

The white chocolate digestives,
a good combination

of your basic digestive

and then it's got that fabulous
topping.

Training complete, they can move
on to dunking.

It is vital for the success
of the white chocolate digestive

that its flavours work
with a cuppa.

The dunking we do in our sensory
booths, and this is an area

that we've designed that's
really neutral,

so it really dulls
all of our other senses,

so the panellists can really just
tune in to

what the biscuits are giving them.

It's really white, it's really quiet
and we've got specific lighting

that allows us to just make sure
we're assessing things in the most

accurate way possible.

Yep. So I'll just pass
these through.

Here's your first sample.

You just get started
when you're ready.

Thank you.

Here's your first sample. So if you
get started whenever you're ready.

Certainly the sweetness and
the vanilla for me are enhanced

in this dunking experiment.

Job done.

All that is left is for Tom
to analyse the results.

The bars are from an early taste
test without dunking.

The dots from today's dunking test.

It's really good to see
that before the dunking, throughout

we had some strong flavours
picked up.

Then even after it was dunked
into the tea, the flavours

were becoming even stronger,
which is really good.

So the sensory science behind
this is showing that the white

chocolate digestives are improved
by dunking into the tea

and hopefully will be still really
well liked after it's been dunked.

Proven by science,

a biscuit and a cup of tea -
a match made in heaven.

All that is left is to see
what the great British public think

of the finished biscuit.

To gauge reaction

McVitie's are releasing the white
chocolate digestive initially

in a limited number of supermarkets.

With the first weeks of sales
so important, managing director

David Murray can't help himself
and pops to the local supermarket

to make sure every packet
is being properly displayed.

Clearly, you know,
it's a new product, right?

So it's only got two facings,
versus, you know, the daddy

of our portfolio, which is milk
chocolate digestives.

But, you know, it's our hope and our
goal that that continues

to grow in spaces in time.

But white will hopefully
eventually get there.

But, yeah, right now
we're very happy

even just to have it on the shelf.

You know, McVitie's is not
just the only biscuit company.

I mean, there is competition and
it's stiff competition,

but that drives us on.

With the white chocolate digestive
on sale at last, it doesn't take

long for the all important biscuit
influencers on social media

to feed back.

Well, it looks nice.

And, by Jove, it tastes nice.

I will give these a nine out of ten,
and I give nothing a ten.

Not the strongest of flavours.

I don't think there's actually
a patch on milk chocolate

or dark chocolate.

First off, without a dippy.

And these were amazing.

Then obviously I had to have
a little dippy in my tea

and they were even better.

That's so disappointing.

I'm literally getting the tiniest
bit of white chocolate.

All I'm tasting is digestive.

The instant verdict on social media
may be mixed, but the real test

comes with the first weeks of sales.

And back at McVitie's HQ
the results are in.

We originally thought we'd be making
about 444 tonnes this year

of white chocolate digestives.

At the moment I've got a figure
that I'm working to that probably

sits well over 1,200 tonnes.

I think that's pretty impressive.

Alexandra Chitty is a supply
chain planner.

It's her job to analyse sales and
make sure factories are producing

enough biscuits to meet demand.

As you can see, there's a few red
squares appearing on my sheet

already this week.
These red cells here,

as you can see, this top line,
this red top line here, is...means

that we are performing considerably
above forecast.

For McVitie's, red is good.

A red number means that demand
from a shop

is outstripping available supply.

That means that we are going
to be looking to ramp up

production in this area.

I'm happy from a business
performance perspective, but it does

create a challenge of how are
we going to make it next week?

Even social media is finally
coming on board.

We're going to try and find
the white chocolate digestives.

McVitie's have a big hit.
So big, that some customers

are having trouble tracking
down an elusive pack.

Are they all gone?

No!

We've been violated.

# Dance through the sadness. #

It's a great problem to have,
but it is a problem.

They are proving so popular
that McVitie's need to quickly ramp

up production to meet
increased demand.

Right, time to get my clothes on.

The challenge of making more

falls to the McVitie's
factory in Stockport.

I'm putting my hairnet on to make
sure I keep all my hair,

what little hair I have, in place.

A 35-year veteran of the food
industry, process development

manager Bill Marsh is leading
the ramp-up in production.

His first priority?

A huge delivery of liquid
white chocolate.

I've got concerns about
this delivery coming in today,

when it's going to arrive.

We're very short on stocks.

There's a real risk here
that it might come in too late.

We might end up stopping production.

This is a massive launch
for the site and for the business.

So it's very important that it
all goes well.

So we've got a lot to worry
about today.

All right. Let's go and get on
with it. Cheers, guys.

Cheers.

The sales are insane, and we've done
quite a lot of work to make sure

we can keep making those biscuits,
2.5 million biscuits every day,

to keep up with consumer demand.

So I've got to get this right today,
because if I don't, there's

going to be a lot of disappointed
customers.

2.5 million biscuits are going
to need a lot of white chocolate.

And with the delivery of 20 tonnes
of the stuff every two days,

Bill is faced with
a storage problem.

This tank just isn't big enough.

He's had to switch over to a huge
tank capable of holding 20 times

the capacity of the smaller one.

This is where the white
chocolate's been delivered to.

This is our enormous new tank.

So right now in this tank,
we have 20 tons of white chocolate.

That won't even last us two days.

With the new super tank coming
online, the increased demand

should be comfortably met.

Morning, Steph. Morning, Bill.

As you know, we've changed
over to the new bulk

chocolate system today. Yes.

But with any change in production

there is the danger of a hiccup
in the system.

So Bill and enrobing expert
Steph are watching closely

for quality and consistency.

We've got a good temper,
we've got a great coverage.

We're keeping the weight.
All under control.

Obviously, this is a key part
of the speeding up of the line

so that we can make enough biscuits
to keep everyone happy.

Exciting.

Once the biscuit is cooled,
the new batch of white chocolate

sticks perfectly to the biscuit.

Yeah, very happy with that.

Well done, Steph. Thank you.

The next step is packing.

Production team manager
Debbie Carter and her team are ready

and waiting for the increase
in production.

We've got the process spot on now.

Chocolate coverage is really good.

It runs round the line really well.

Packets are fine. Everything's
perfect today.

Oh, good. Let's hope it stays
that way.

Spoken too soon.

The line stops, so does
the flow of biscuits.

When 2.5 million biscuits
per day need to be packed,

every second counts.

Feel like the captain of
the Titanic.

Didn't the Titanic sink though?

We're not going to sink!

McVitie's have decided to launch
a brand-new take on one

of the nation's favourite biscuits,
taking a much-loved digestive

and covering it in white chocolate.

But at McVitie's top secret R&D lab
just outside High Wycombe,

the search for the next big thing
in biscuits never stops.

And to ensure that they have the
very best taste buds to help them

identify exciting new flavours,
sensory panel lead Tom Holmes

is putting two new recruits
for his team of super-tasters

through their paces.

So if you want to be a sensory
panellist, one of our professional

biscuit tasters, then there's quite
a few different exercises

that we need them to pass.

So, today, we're going to be doing
a few of these different tests.

And it's not as easy as you think.

So, the first one, we're going to
give you four different samples

of squash, two of which are one type
and two of which are another type.

Have a taste of them and see
if you can pull out

which two go together.

And then if you can describe
what the difference is, maybe.

It's quite tricky. They all taste
quite similar.

Erm, I wrote one thing
and I'm starting to change my mind.

I'm feeling good about this one.

So the next task that we'll be
doing, we'll give you a stick

that has some aroma on it

and we want you to try and identify
what that aroma may be.

Being a super-taster isn't
all down to what we put

in our mouths.

Our sense of smell is responsible
for about 80% of what we taste.

Tom has to find out
if the volunteer's nose knows.

So this is the first different aroma
that we're going to give you today.

So have a smell of this and see
if you can recognise

what this may be.

It is something that I've definitely
smelled before.

It's just not coming to my mind
what exactly this is,

but definitely something sweet.

Hardly a resounding success.

This is harder than it looks.

We'll move on to our last task
that we've got for you guys today,

which is going to be seeing
if you can pick out texture

differences between some biscuits.

So we're going to give you five
different biscuits today

and we want you to rank them
from the softest to bite through

to the hardest to bite through.

I'm pretty sure I know
which one's hardest

and second hardest and softest.

It's the last two.

I'm just trying to decide
which order they should be in.

If you guys have finished that test,
that's us all finished for today.

Time for the moment of truth.

To be accepted as a McVitie's super
taster, Tom needs the volunteers

to score perfectly in every test.

For the first activity that you did,
the different squashes,

so you two managed to both
get that test correct.

So well done there.
Yes! Yes! Thank you.

One hurdle cleared on the path
to becoming

a professional biscuit taster.

So the second task, with the
different aromas,

that you were doing. So this one was
quite tricky.

I went quite vague.

I said herbal. I wasn't able
to identify.

I think it's cardamom.

After giving a thought I was
confused between cinnamon

and cardamom, but I think
it's cardamom.

So unfortunately both of you got
that one incorrect.

That one was black pepper.

LAUGHTER
Ah.

That's amazing.

It was all going so well.

So we've got the different
biscuits here

that we ranked in terms
of the texture.

So which one did you guys
have as being the softest biscuit?

When it comes to the final
test on texture

our two guinea pigs were
in agreement.

Six, two, four. Yeah, six, two, four
for me.

Yeah. Yeah, so six, two, four is
our Rich Tea.

That is the softest sample
to bite through.

Until the third to last biscuit.

I had four, one, one.

Oh, I think I've given four and
two. OK.

So the third softest was four, one,
one, which is the Hobnob.

A career in professional biscuit
tasting foiled by a Hobnob.

What a way to go.

By doing this test, we can see quite
how hard it is

to be a sensory panellist.

And whilst Pranav and Karen
got close,

they didn't quite pass
every single one of them.

So it means that we wouldn't be
able to accept them

as sensory panellists.

Bad luck, guys.

Yeah, I've got a new respect
for people who do biscuit tasting.

Yeah, they've got some pretty finely
tuned senses, I would say.

Some of my responses, I thought
they were right, but they're not.

So it is a bit heartbreaking.

That, as they say, is how
the cookie crumbles.

McVitie's white chocolate digestives
have been launched in a limited

number of supermarkets, and they are
proving popular.

So much, in fact, that the
production

needs to be massively
increased.

However, back at the Stockport
factory, for production team manager

Debbie Carter, things have hit
a snag in packing.

And then relief all round.

It stopped because the blueprints
stopped.

The line starts again.

There was a gremlin in the blueprint
machine, but that's still cause

for a little celebration.

You all right, Carmelita?

I am, thank you.

You're supposed to do a little
dance, back, you know!

I can do my dance... Like, happy!

With the line up and running again,
it's full speed ahead.

Our order is for 238 pallets
over a four-day period.

The way we're running, we're going
to absolutely smash that order.

Terrible twosome.
SHE LAUGHS

Well, we can't get in any more
trouble, can we?

All that is left is for a spot check
by Bill and Debbie to ensure

the biscuits meet McVitie's
exacting standards.

We're going to make sure that all
the packets are in the case

correctly, facing outwards.

So when it's on the shelf, it looks
actually quite presentable and quite

catching to the eye
for the consumer.

Then we'll open it...

..to check product quality.

And eat one! And eat one!

Or two. Or three!

Fab.

Lovely.

I could eat a whole packet.

That's why I didn't want to
start eating one!

HE LAUGHS
Because you just keep going back.

Nice.

The white chocolate digestive
is finally ready

to be packed and distributed.

They are just some of the 92 million
biscuits that McVitie's produce each

and every day.

When it comes to the coordinated
movement of huge

numbers of biscuits,

McVitie's have it
down to a fine art.

At their Harlesden factory, they
produce so many boxes of biscuits,

they've had to call in the robots.

Costing over £2.6 million,

these eight robots stack
100,000 cases a day.

It's quite a special place.

That used to be done by people.

It's now done by robots.

Machine operator Peter Wright
has been working with the robots

since they were installed in 2016.

When anything is in the wrong
place, we have to make sure

that doesn't stop the whole
facility.

If that conveyor stops,
everything stops.

If the pilot collapses,
it will stop the whole system.

Never in my life did I think I'd be
working with all these robots.

It definitely can seem like there's
some of the robots have got

their own personalities.

It can seem like that.

It's like there are definitely
instances where the minute

you turn your back, they play up.

You've got to watch them
all the time.

As soon as you turn your back,
they'll do something naughty.

BEEPING

And as if on cue, one of Peter's
robots decides to misbehave.

Did you hear the alarm? Yeah.

I've got to go.

I've got...I've got an issue to
sort, OK?

We have a crashed pallet.

A crashed robot.

The case on the bottom is out of
position.

But the robot didn't know that.
They'd stacked it anyway.

Which means when he comes to stack
the case next to it, it's crashed

into the case before him.

So we now need to go and retrieve
it to make it good.

It's not safe to go through there.

There's too many moving parts.

Once the robot is working,
there's...

..there's no human interacting
in there.

It's too dangerous to be in there
whilst the robot is doing its thing.

Peter has to shut down the entire
system to fix the breakdown.

PETER HUMS

Bad case removed.

Robot unit locked.

Robot restarted and we still
need to watch it to make sure

everything is in the right position
for it to carry on again.

So far, so good.

All good.

Disaster averted and just in time.

Loaded up and sent out on lorries,

these biscuits will join the white
chocolate digestive in shops

up and down the country.

McVitie's increase in production
has worked. Millions more

white chocolate digestives
can now be enjoyed

by eager waiting customers.

White digestive biscuit.

HE INHALES

9.75 out of ten.

Very tasty.

With over one million in sales
from a limited nationwide launch,

the white chocolate digestive
is McVitie's biggest new product

of the last ten years.

But success doesn't stop managing
director David Murray constantly

monitoring customer feedback.

So this is the McVitie's
Instagram channel.

We've another one. That's got to
make it into my cheesecake recipe.

Er, the absolute best.

I need them.

Please send them.

Yeah, it's just amazing
and to see that level of reaction.

Erm, yeah, it's brilliant. That's
shoppers, that's people that buy

them and absolutely love them.

In order to keep up with
their competitors, McVitie's

have invested years of development,
millions of pounds of investment

and a true team effort.

Finally, the launch of the white
chocolate digestive

can be called a success.

Fab!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media