Member Article

Fruit crisp manufacturer on course for record year

A string of new contracts with leading retailers and growing demand for its single ingredient teas is putting a Kent manufacturer on course for a record year.

Nim’s, which is the UK’s only producer of air dried fruit and vegetable crisps, is set to turnover £900,000 by the end of 2018 after seeing its products stocked in Co-op, through online specialist Ocado and in more than 1400 Tesco stores nationwide.

The latter has been a major success story for the Sittingbourne-based company, with impressive sales leading to the supermarket adding pineapple to its original listings of apple, pear and beetroot & parsnip.

This news comes just a month after it was sold for the first time at Wimbledon and after a well-known Chef chose to use one of its ingredients as a desert topping served in first class train carriages.

“The first three years of the business has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, opportunities, challenges to overcome…we’ve seen pretty much everything,” explained Nimisha Raja, who sold her home to help her fund the launch of the business and set-up manufacturing in the UK.

“It all seems worth it now though, with our retail presence growing tremendously and, our crisps as ingredients, becoming increasingly popular. Sales are set to quadruple in 2018 and lots of exciting discussions are currently underway to supply even more retailers both at home and abroad.”

She went on to add: “We set up the factory with volume in mind and real volume comes from supplying supermarkets. Our listings with Tesco, Ocado and Co-op have been a major boost and, when taking into consideration the independents we also supply, means Nim’s are now available through more than 2,300 outlets.

In the coming months Nim’s will be launching two new varieties of air dried crisps to add to its existing range, as well as a multipack that is already sparking interest from a leading retailer.

This comes on the back of it introducing its first ever air dried fruit teas, as part of the company’s determination to continually introduce products that no one else offers.

Nimisha continued: “Staffing levels have more than doubled from five to thirteen employees to keep up with demand and we are still recruiting.

“The new appointments cover production, administration, sales and our first ever marketing manager.

“2018 will go down as a landmark year in the evolution of Nim’s. However, that’s just the start and we are constantly looking at innovation so we can remain at the forefront of the healthy snacking marketplace.”

Nim’s Fruit and Vegetable Crisps are fat, gluten and dairy free, as well as being Vegan, Kosher and Halal certified.

They are manufactured at its bespoke, A Grade BRC accredited facility in Sittingbourne where, after recent investment in new equipment, it is capable of producing over 15 million packs of crisps a year.

In the wake of Brexit, the company redoubled its efforts in gaining additional presence in countries outside of the EU, resulting in distribution deals being agreed with Hong Kong, Israel and South Africa.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .