大象传媒

Gregg reconnects with the Typhoo tea factory in the Wirral near Liverpool, which he visited back in 2017. The coronavirus crisis caused tea bag sales to soar, and the factory has upped production to produce 109 million tea bags in a week, an increase of 28 million.

Throughout the episode, Gregg looks back over his original visit to the factory and the whole production process. First, he helps unload 24 tonnes of dried tea from Kenya and then follows its journey through the 28,500-square-metre factory to make the nation's favourite - good, old-fashioned builder's tea. Meanwhile, Cherry Healey travels to Kenya to see how the tea crop is picked, processed and shipped over 4,000 miles to the UK. She also learns how to master the art of making the best tea bag brew, revealing the top tips for a perfect cuppa. And historian Ruth Goodman explores how tea kept up morale during World War II.

Today, Gregg catches up with some of the workers via video calls to find out how they are coping in these extraordinary circumstances. First, Gregg speaks to blending manager Dave Langton, who he met during his visit back in 2017. Dave reassures Gregg that the tea is still getting through from their suppliers and reveals that the factory has increased production from 81 million tea bags a week to a massive 109 million. Gregg also catches up with operations manager Danny McGrail, who tells him that this overall increase included an order to produce 72 million tea bags for government care packages, free food boxes of essential supplies for clinically vulnerable people shielding at home.

Gregg catches up with Danny again at the dispatch area, where he reveals they are now delivering straight to the supermarkets from the factory rather than via distribution centres, to ensure their products are getting to the shelves as quickly as possible. Danny expresses his pride in the factory team who, even when extra demand soared, always delivered tea on time.