Willowbrook Foods invests for growth in Britain and Ireland

Willowbrook Foods, the Northern Ireland specialist in salads, prepared vegetables and convenience meals, has opened a new £5.5 million factory extension. The 44,000sq ft extension is enabling the company, based on a family farm at Killinchy in County Down, to meet the growing demand in Great Britain and Ireland from major retailers and wholesales for its developing range of products.

Willowbrook Foods, which already supplies Co-Operative Food and Musgrave Retail Partners, with a range of products, recently secured new business worth more than £4 million from a leading retail chain and also a wholesale operation in Britain.

Willowbrook managing director, JohnMcCann, commenting on the company's investment, said: "This factory more than doubles our production capacity and is enabling us to meet the growing demand from key customers for our existing range of products.

"We made the investment to carry forward the success we have achieved in selling 85 per cent of our products to customers outside Northern Ireland.

"In addition, the investment is providing scope for new products being developed by staff in our new Food Innovation Centre in liaison with both existing and potential customers in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

"The Innovation Centre, opened last year, and the new factory together enable us to respond quickly and flexibly to market opportunities for new products. Our success to date has been based on the close working relationships that we have developed with customers and our ability to respond nimbly to opportunities arising from the demands of consumers.

"Since opening in 1967, innovation has always been at the centre of our business.

We have focused resourced on understanding of the needs of our customers and also the overall market, developing both existing and new products to exceed the needs of all our customers.

"Our latest launch, branded 'Made Easy', offers today's busy consumer, who still likes to cook in the kitchen, a range of prepared vegetables, specifically targeting Mexican, Italian, Oriental and Steak Garnish. Each pack has on pack easy to follow serving suggestions to simply turn this into that special meal."

The factory, which was opened by Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland First Minister, includes a state-of-the-art cooking area where the company produces its premium range of mash potato and vegetables, along with other par-cooked vegetable products.

Willowbrook Foods currently employs around 250 people at the Killinchy plant and also in an operation in Newtownards.