HIS empire began with a humble £2.50 investment and it turned into a multi-million empire, but on November 25, Bernard Matthews died at the age of 80.
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| DISTINGUISHED: Bernard Matthews has passed away |
He passed away on Thursday afternoon, as America was celebrating ‘Thanksgiving.’ His passing was confirmed in a statement by the chief executive of Bernard Matthews Farms, Noel Bertrand;
“It is with a great deal of personal sadness that I confirm Bernard Matthews passed away on the afternoon of 25th November. I have personally known Bernard Matthews for well over 30 years, and on behalf of myself and my fellow colleagues, I wish to express our great sorrow and extend our sympathies to his family.”
Born in 1930, Matthews left school at 16 and began his investments as a twenty-year old. By 1952, he has moved into poultry full-time and three years later, bought the Great Witchingham Hall in Norwich, which still remains the headquarters of Bernard Matthews today. He has enjoyed a rise of fame and prominence through the 1970s and 1980s, but in recent times, his name has taken some damaging credibility.
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| ADDICTIVE: The Turkey Twizzler took stick |
When Sainsbury’s campaigner and Chef Jamie Oliver launched a campaign to improve the healthy eating habits of children in schools, it was Matthews’s controversial product, the ‘Turkey Twizzlers,’ that took the big hits. He was criticised severely by animal rights movements, when all the ingredients of the dangerously addictive Twizzlers were revealed in the press. Less than a year later, video footage on YouTube showed two of Mr. Matthews’s employees playing “baseball” with two live turkeys. It was a disgusting act caught on film and the men involved admitted to animal cruelty at a magistrate’s court case in Norwich.
Desperate to restore faith in consumer, Bernard Matthews ran several advertising campaigns, telling customers that their employees were hard-working people. In February 2007, a strain of the deadly bird flu hit one of the Matthews plants in Suffolk, which led to the slaughtering of 160,000 birds, who might have contracted the disease.
Although there has been a slump in sales in recent times, Bernard Matthews has left a very distinguished legacy in the food industry and his presence will be missed.
