I’m sure most of us associate Walker’s Crisps with Leicester legend, Gary Lineker but last week I met with the people who do the real work to bring these products to our supermarket and corner shop shelves.

I toured the Walkers factory in Beaumont Leys, which has a long history in Leicester and is now owned by PepsiCo. This is an impressive, high tech operation, which processes around 800 tonnes of potatoes a day, making it the biggest crisp factory in the world. It has six large production lines, each turning out up to three tonnes of crisps an hour.

I met with the company’s Production Manager to discuss the issues that face Walkers in the coming years and to encourage them to employ and support local people. I also welcomed the progress Walkers has made in reducing the fat and salt content of their crisps, because whilst we’re a nation of snack lovers, obesity is a major problem that we all need to do more to address in future.

I will continue to do all I can to work with local employers and to support local jobs.