TV chef Joe Carey visits Fen Peas

We have enjoyed a visit from TV chef Joe Carey, who joined us in the fields to find out more about the hard work that goes into producing the peas that he goes on to cook.

Joe, who often appears on ITV’s This Morning, was with us on a damp Sunday morning at our fields near RAF Coningsby - fortunately, the planes were having a day off. 

It’s always interesting to get the perspective of a chef, who uses peas in the kitchen but may not know what goes on behind the scenes to get them there. We had the pleasure of explaining how we grow the peas, and the whole life cycle of growing them through to maturity.

Joe loved getting an opportunity to experience the machinery, jumping up onto the harvester for a test drive, before we moved onto the next stage of the process: freezing. Our peas go from harvested to frozen in 150 minutes in order to capture all the nutrients and freshness within them.

It was a quick ride to the factory to show Joe how we do it. Freezing is nature’s pause button - preserving the product in its current state so that it will look and taste just as fresh when it is cooked and eaten. We pride ourselves on the freshness and flavour of our peas, so we want the consumer to experience all of that when the peas are defrosted and put on their plate.

Despite the early start, Joe seemed to enjoy the day, and it was wonderful to be able to share and hopefully pass on some of our passion for peas.