Production: Cooked meats factory, Part 1

The first 'own brand' products to be produced by Sainsbury's were bacon and ham, cured in the depot at Allcroft Road until 1890.

Later, unsmoked bacon and ham was received at the new Blackfriars depot then transferred to bacon stoves at nearby Gravel Lane to be smoked. It was despatched to branches as whole sides or prime cuts, for preparation on the premises.

Following the move to Blackfriars in 1890, Sainsbury's established its own 'kitchens' where own brand potted meats, sausages and pies were made. The smell of baking pies attracted local boys who hung around in the hope of earning a bite to eat in exchange for running an errand. By 1900, sausages and cooked meat products had become Sainsbury's most profitable lines.

By the 1930s, the kitchens needed modernisation. Sir Owen Williams was commissioned to design a 'model factory' at Paris Garden, near Stamford Street. He was a specialist in concrete construction who had previously designed the Wembley Pool and Stadium, the Daily Express building in Fleet Street and the Boots factory near Northampton.

The new building was a marvel of modernity, described in Pevsner's 'Buildings of England' as 'a bold, honest reinforced concrete structure'. Its six floors were supported by huge internal columns and it was the first concrete building of its kind to be approved by the London County Council.

The project was supervised by James Sainsbury, whose father Arthur had managed the old 'kitchens'. He enforced strict new hygiene standards and equipped the factory with quality control laboratories so that the goods produced could be regularly tasted and analysed.