Slough’s Mars factory to feature on Channel 4’s Snackmasters

TV viewers will be offered a rare glimpse inside the Mars factory in Slough tonight during the latest episode of Snackmasters on Channel 4.

The culinary challenge show, fronted by renowned maître d’ Fred Siriex, will visit the chocolate company’s production line in the Trading Estate to find out the secrets behind Snickers.

Thousands of the caramel and peanut-topped nougat bars are made at the site each day.

Chefs Tom Brown and Sabrina Gidda will be tasked with cracking the secrets behind the bars before replicating their own takes on the sweet treats.

Langley resident Harry Rasheed, an employee at the factory for 28 years, is due to feature in the show.

Harry followed in the footsteps of his father, Abdul Rasheed, by joining the company as a university graduate in 1992.

Harry Rasheed (second from right) during the Snackmasters visit

His sister, Raheela, is also employed at Mars.

The Langley resident’s first job at the chocolatiers saw him help pack thousands of Snickers bars each shift.

He told the Express: “At that time we had a bar called king-size and we used to pack up to 80 tonnes of snickers between three of us in a nine-hour shift.”

Workers were tasked with lugging 25 kilo bags up the stairs and chopping up butter by hand but much of this work has now been replaced by machines.

The 52-year-old, who retired in May last year only to return seven months later, added: “A lot of the automation that happened was to take all the manual and laborious tasks out.

“Even packing 80 tonnes of Snickers a shift, it was no fun for my hands.”

Up to 800 Snickers bars can now be packed per minute at the factory, with the factory employing 350 people.

Snackmasters will be airing on Channel 4 at 9pm.