Northern Irish sauce processor expands

Sauce producer Prep House in Northern Ireland has invested £800,000 in a new factory to fulfil new contracts with the some of the UK's biggest supermarket chains.

Based in Crossgar in county Down, Prep House specialises in the creation, development and production of sauces, mayonnaise, dressings and marinades.

Formerly known as Sauceworks, the business, founded in 1999 by Paul and David Bell, recently opened a new 10,000 sq ft factory in response to growing demand in existing markets and for expansion into new areas especially the Republic of Ireland.

The family owned and managed company has also upgraded production capabilities with new filling, labelling and cooking equipment and opened an 'Innovation Kitchen', to be used for cookery demonstrations as well as allow customers to create their own sauces.

The major investment has created four new jobs, bringing total staff numbers at the firm to 20.

Paul Bell, Prep House managing director, says the company has outgrown its previous home and hopes the new premises will drive further growth.

"Our focus over the next 12 months is to further diversify our product range and break into new markets," he adds.

"The Republic of Ireland is an area we're currently looking at and we'll be recruiting more staff to help facilitate that growth. We're also developing ways to remove preservatives from our sauces to make them even healthier."

The company supplies products to both retail and foodservice.