This is no joke. In the news this past week was an announcement by Branston, the food manufacturer, that it was going to implement a loan scheme for students to encourage more sales of canned baked beans. It seems that baked beans are not as popular as they once were, with consumption dropping 20% in the past 5 years. So Branston is offering students free cans of beans over 3 years with interest-free payments deferred to whenever student starts working. Another feather in the cap of today’s debt-ridden society!
Baked beans have always been a British favorite and diet mainstay since they were first introduced in 1904. All you have to do is visit any grocery store and you’ll see just how popular they are. There is practically an entire aisle dedicated to baked beans and you’ll usually always see a few tins in nearly everyone’s trolley. Hell, they are even sold in 6-packs.
Baked beans on toast is a British delicacy, and you’ll always get served baked beans alongside your bacon and eggs with your British fry-up breakfast. Personally I don’t care for them all that much. They are much sweeter than the American varieties. More like Campbell’s pork and beans that I ate as a kid. The Brits don’t know what they’re missing with some good ole’ Southern-style baked beans. But then again, seeing as the Brits buy 97% of the world’s baked beans, perhaps they know something the rest of us don’t.
