Member Article

Troy Foods celebrates completion of new £500,000 ready-to-eat vegetable processing site

Leading vegetable, salad and mayonnaise producer Troy Foods has expanded its operations with the completion of a fourth site in Yorkshire. Supported by a £500,000 investment from NPIF – Mercia Debt Finance, managed by Mercia and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), the new fully operational facility is expected to create more than 20 new jobs.

Located in Lofthouse, Wakefield, the 30,000sq ft site is dedicated to the preparation of freshly prepared ready-to-eat vegetables, such as carrot batons and herby potatoes, which are supplied direct to the retail and food service sectors. The ready-to-eat range is an extension of Troy Foods’ existing offering which comprises prepared vegetables for use in ready meals, plus dressed salads and mayonnaise.

The company’s latest BRCGS (British Retail Consortium Global Standards) approved site features a fully equipped processing plant with separate high care areas as well as refrigerated storage facilities. It has the capacity to process 1,000 tonnes of vegetables a week, the equivalent of 700,000 retail packs per week. The Wakefield site complements Troy Foods’ two Leeds sites for prepared vegetables and dressed salads/mayonnaise production, plus its nearby head office and distribution hub.

“This latest investment from NPIF – Mercia Debt Finance, arranged by David Wright, marks another key step in our ambitious five year vision for Troy Foods to be the largest prepared vegetable produce supplier across all sectors, including B2B, ready-to-eat, food service and retail,” explains group managing director James Kempley. “Already, we are the UK’s leading B2B vegetable processing manufacturer and the leading supplier of branded salads.

“The addition of a fourth site in the region increases our capacity, enabling us to offer customers an even greater choice of prepared vegetables with the introduction of ready-to-eat lines. As a fourth generation Yorkshire family business with a heritage of almost 100 years, we are proud to be continuing to drive the company forward while never losing sight of our values and traditions.

“The support of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund through this new development has been outstanding, and we look forward to working with them again as we continue to grow the business, creating jobs and helping build the regional economy.”

Mark Wilcockson, senior manager at British Business Bank, said: “The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund seeks to boost growth in businesses across the region with finance to support new jobs and expansion. Funding such as this highlights the important role of external finance, helping local businesses to fulfill their growth ambitions. We would encourage other businesses seeking to grow to see what funding support is available from NPIF.”

Established in 1921 by John Kempley Senior as a potato merchants, Troy Foods now employs 400 people across its four Yorkshire sites and supplies a selection of prepared vegetables for ready meals and retail packs in leading supermarkets. In recent years, it diversified into processing value added lines such as dressed salads including coleslaw, potato salads, pasta salads and dips as well as mayonnaise and dressings to retailers and food service groups.

Operating from the British Business Bank’s Sheffield head office, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund provides a mix of debt and equity funding (£25,000 to £2m). It works alongside ten Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the combined authorities and Growth Hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to support Northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emma Kilmurray .