Beacon Foods prepares for major growth following £6m investment
Beacon Foods, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of ingredients and ready-to-eat products, has invested £6 million in a three-year expansion programme.
The investment has doubled both the size of its manufacturing and storage facilities – to 53,000 square feet – and its production capacity in preparation for major business growth.
The Brecon-based company, which has 130 employees, supplies food manufacturers, food service, coffee shops, fast food chains and travel and hospitality industries.
The company has greatly increased production volumes, capabilities and packaging options. New state-of-art machinery includes kettles, a char griller and spiral oven and new packaging equipment to supply sachets and dip pots.
A 50 per cent increase in orders for garlic puree this year has forced the company to introduce a new production line to satisfy growing customer demand.
Aiming to boost its sustainability credentials, Beacon Foods has also invested in 1,428 solar PV panels which will produce up to 500,000 kilowatts of electricity. Beacon Foods will use the majority of the generated electricity within its facilities and potentially export to the National Grid at weekends
The increased production capacity has also prompted the company to upgrade its waste water treatment processing plant.
Two new storage tanks, with more than 430 cubic litres capacity, a new aeration system to increase the biological process and new filters that will increase potential discharge capacity to 150 cubic litres per day have been installed.
Chairman Edward Gough believes Beacon Foods is now perfectly placed to secure new business opportunities.
“We have doubled our manufacturing capacity, invested in state-of-the-art machinery, enhanced our reputation for quality, safe products and personal customer service and have already secured more business this year, so the future looks very promising,” he said.
“We also believe that we are unique in being able to offer UK produced, bespoke recipes of ready to eat, IQF (individual quick frozen) char grilled and roasted vegetables, which are both proving to be extremely popular with customers
“With the new, additional equipment, we are able to offer our customers products packed in small sachets and dip pots.
“We have around 6,000 different recipes, which appeals to customers in different markets, and have many years of experience which makes us stand out from competitors.”
Established in 1993, Beacon Foods is the UK’s leading specialist producer of garlic, ginger and chili puree, roasted and char grilled vegetables and fruit ranges, relishes, chutneys, sauces and fruit compotes.
The ingredients go into literally thousands of products, including sandwiches, ready meals, pizzas, soups, drinks and desserts, which can be found on supermarket shelves, airlines, restaurant chains and coffee shops.
Picture caption:
Edward Gough, Beacon Foods chairman.