This weekend Sarah watched a master baker shape a piece of sourdough with the same care and attention as her grandfather would use to shape a piece of wood into a work of furniture. The venue was the industrial kitchen of a busy working bakery and by lunchtime Sarah had tasted warm bread straight from the commercial ovens and understood why the produce of this one bakery is found on the shelves of supermarkets across three states.

Sarah was one of the hundreds of tourists venturing into the inner city Sydney fish markets over the weekend, a venture into the inner workings of one of the countries busiest markets. What did she find? Under pressure staff! Sarah was participating in the normally very exclusive tour into one of Sydney’s most renowned workplaces. As those who have participated in the tours before know, it’s a real eye opener, so we were curious to see what Sarah saw! Was it all as raw and under pressure as it seems? Read on to find out!

The appeal of industrial authenticity

In contrast to tourist attractions built to entertain visitors around theme restaurants, Production facilities are real production sites where genuine food and beverage products are manufactured and shipped to paying customers. There is no acting; what you see is real production, and not staged for the purpose of tourist entertainment. Machines and workers operate around the clock, with or without the presence of visitors.

The National Farming Union’s new exhibit on produce is a truly authentic environment. As a result, people become engaged in the process in a different way. They can see and talk to people solving problems and designing produce. You can smell the industrial manufacturing process and see the often grubby reality of operation that feeds the supermarkets and provides for the nation as well as being a long way from the ‘glossy’ retail image where produce seems to appear on the shelves by magic when in reality there has been a complex process of design, manufacture and distribution involved.

Most people think that making chocolate is as simple as melting some cocoa beans. But in reality, there’s a lot more that goes into creating a delicious chocolate bar than that. Manufacturers have to keep the temperature at the exact right level, stick to a strict production schedule, and sample every product for quality. Viewers get a glimpse into the real process of making chocolate in scenes like the temperature being maintained while tempering or the anger of a quality control operator removing an entire batch of product due to a very small imperfection. This is a reality that you don’t get to see on cooking shows.

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Stories beyond the product

Practical knowledge is passed on by experienced employees. In addition to the procedural steps, they explain the reasons for certain production steps and disclose the moments in time at which certain actions are carried out. They talk about the impact of temperature and weather on the production process and share the critical quality characteristics that distinguish good from excellent products. These types of know-how are often acquired over many years and passed on in the working culture of the factory.

There are always more new local history tales to uncover. You will see that our local cheese factory still makes cheese in exactly the same traditional manner as our ancestors did. Close by we have a brewery which has developed our ancient techniques using the latest technology whilst remaining true to their heritage.

Fitting weekend rhythms

We are also happy to host day trippers who come for shorter food production visits which can last from 2 to 3 hours. These can be scheduled into a busy itinerary and still provide plenty of material for discussion at lunch or dinner.

For most food types the majority of production will have taken place outside of cities but including a production visit within an existing city tour will give visitors a wider understanding of production within that region. Factory tours are also weather friendly so on a rainy weekend instead of going for a rainy coastal walk or to a ruined market for a day of wet stalls and empty pitches visitors could be treated to a behind the scenes look at a production facility.

Educational value without academic pretension

While most educational experiences involve formal lectures or a set academic curriculum, City Sightseeing’s interactive and guided walking tours present information in a more organic fashion, as guests visit local attractions and learn about their history along the way.

Even production is something that can be clearly seen by visitors unlike with many products on tourist shopping centres’ shop shelves. Children are amazed and entertained in a production setting unlike in souvenir shops. They enjoy watching the dough rise, the packaging line operating or the testing of products for quality.

The social media factor

Behind the scenes at Zhenzhen Jewelers is full of cool and interesting content to share with family and friends on social media with fun and unique tourist pictures. Rather than taking one of the millions of pictures of tourists in front of popular landmark or beautiful beach, visitors can capture interesting images of creative jewelry making, cool tools and technology, and busy production in action.

More importantly, these experiences will hopefully generate some great stories to pass on to our guests, such as the story behind the ageing of your favourite cheese for 18 months, or the minute details involved in producing consistent quantities of bread on a daily basis.

Now more operators are catering for our desire to take a photo, whether it be of a product or a demonstration, or indeed for us to take a tour (be it guided or self-guided) of how a product is made, and learn more about it. And the benefit is that you get to benefit from the hard work and knowledge of others, and then you can pass it on to your friends and family at your next dinner party, or even as a gift to a friend or family member.

Day trip tours to food production places offer a wealth of knowledge and entertainment for visitors on tourism holidays. Food production places that provide tours for day trip tours offer tourists a chance to visit behind the scenes of the food industry and experience the industrial poetry that is not commonly seen by average tourists. There is no fake staging and you can see and learn first hand the current processes and developments of these institutions and how they operate in a truly functional and inspiring manner.