Peas

Ace Co-Op product promo, filmed with zest at a Lowestoft factory

"Why, they're fresher than fresh!" This product promo concerns the peas processed at the Co-operative Wholesale Society's Lowestoft factory. Sounds dull? In fact it's an almost Platonically perfect 'industrial process' film: an object lesson in unpretentious economy, information-packed but delivered with the same brisk precision it extols in its subject, no shot or word out of place - including even some nifty slow-mo.

In five minutes flat we take in the peas' entire journey, from their harvesting through their cutting, shelling, cleaning, weighing, washing and blanching, to their cooking, canning and labelling. It's a fascinating visual record of a mid-century factory that is substantially - but not entirely - mechanised. The Co-operative movement had a long and rich history of filmmaking, embracing political education and commercial promotion alike.