Britain’s kings of sourdough

In an industrial estate near Leicester, Geary’s Bakeries turns water, salt and Canadian flour into sourdough bread. The dough ferments slowly in a special room, which, for those familiar with the end product, smells like a thousand breakfasts. Baked loaves of various kinds zip along a conveyor belt, where they are classified by automatic cameras and sent one way or another. The bags into which the sliced bread will be packed are opened with little puffs of air. A food associated with finicky artisans has been industrialised.