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Recession is good news for Consett food firm
by Chris Knox - 22/01/2010
"A FOOD company that makes upmarket ready meals hopes to double its sales this year to £14m after receiving a £4m investment to help market its brand and quadruple production."
The Tanfield Food Company, based in Consett, County Durham, has received the cash injection from Switzerland-based Inventages Venture Capital and will soon launch a series of marketing campaigns based around its ready-meal brands.
It also said that it was looking to add extra capacity at its factory by the summer and that increasing its floor space from 22,000sq m to 33,000sq m would allow it to increase its output fourfold to 28 million portions a year.
The Look What We Found ready meals, which come in pouches and list the source of ingredients, have proven popular in supermarkets and the firm says that the recession is only increasing the public hunger for upmarket ready meals as they shun takeaways and restaurants.
The firm, which opened in Consett five years ago, believes its high-quality meals, which are marketed as natural and wholesome, are also proving popular among increasingly health- conscious shoppers.
Tanfield has seen turnover grow by 80% to £7m over the past two years, and, although it said it is currently a little more cautious, it still expects growth of between 70% and 100% this year.
It has also managed to more than double its workforce to 110 over the past 15 months and said it was hoping to add similar number over the next two years.
Keith Gill, marketing and sales director, said: “We have enjoyed significant growth over recent months and expect this to continue going forward. There is scope to develop a wide variety of distribution channels and the extra production capacity should boost sales again and, in turn, jobs.”
As well performing well in supermarkets, including Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, the meals have also been introduced on a number of airlines, with the firm adding BMI Baby, RyanAir and Thomson to its list of clients last year.
Inventages chairman Dr Gunnar Weikert said: “We believe Tanfield taps into the growing trend towards lower- carbon footprints. The quality of their products is so high they have the potential to partially replace the chilled and frozen category as well as to penetrate into new channels currently not served by cold chain supply.”
More Details: http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/2010/01/21/recession-is-good-news-for-consett-food-firm-51140-25651215/
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