Lorraine, from Keith in Moray, ‘accidently’ joined the team at Fochabers in 1976 as a 16 year old. After chumming her pal to the factory for an interview, she ended up leaving with a job herself and recently celebrated her golden jubilee anniversary and retirement.
To begin with, Lorraine worked on the Beetroot line before moving into Can Labelling and Shrink Wrapping, where she worked for the next 20 years.
“At that time it was just the Speyside factory and more or less everything was done by hand,” explains Lorraine. “The team picked the fruit, fed the line, packed the products and also hand pumped the wheels on the pallets. Even though it was all manual, we were turning around a pallet every 10 mins– it was fast and furious!
“I remember the popular soups back then were Royal Game, Cock-a-Leekie, Crofters Broth and Mulligatawny. We also made tins of berries, mince, haggis and even pheasant!”
In the 90s, Lorraine moved into the Export department, now known as Parcel Services, where she has worked ever since. “We were so busy sending Baxters products to companies all over the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Canada, America and Australia. We were on the go all the time, it was really exciting and I loved it!”
Although the role has changed over the years as Baxters expanded its physical presence across the globe, one thing that never changed was Lorraine’s love for the job.
She said: “I feel very lucky that I have enjoyed coming to work every single day. For a job that wasn’t actually planned, it’s definitely served me well for the last 50 years!
“I have met so many great people and I fondly remember the days when Mr Gordon Baxter would visit us regularly on site. I will really miss the place and everyone in it, but I am looking forward to spending more time with my grandson, Innes, and enjoying some more holidays.”
Graeme Morrison, European Transformation Director at Baxters Food Group, has worked with Lorraine at the Fochabers factory for a number of years thanked her for her service on behalf the company:
He said: “Congratulations and thanks to Lorraine for her incredible service to the company over the last five decades. This is an incredible achievement and Lorraine can be proud of the fact that she is in a very elite group of the longest serving members of the Baxters team.
“Wishing you all the very best for a well-deserved retirement Lorraine.”