Potato supplier Branston has opened a new £3.5 million facility for prepared potatoes this week.
The Lincolnshire packhouse has been designed to incorporate the newest element of the Branston business on site and was unveiled at a launch on Tuesday attended by growers, press and representatives of Tesco, which stocks Branston’s fresh and prepared potatoes.
Branston has defied the recession to invest heavily in the factory, creating 30 new jobs at the four-line site, which produces 300,000 potato packs a week, with the capacity to double this.
TV chef James Martin, of Saturday Kitchen, officially opened the new 2,500sqm factory, which has been operational for eight weeks.
The new development is the result of the company’s plan to produce more prepared product and build its share of the £720m prepared vegetable market. Branston had originally intended to acquire an existing company for its prepared arm, but instead decided to pursue the venture itself and build its own facility.
The prepared factory has been designed to be environment-friendly, with a range of features to minimise carbon emissions. A bore hole supplies its water and the heating system is fuelled by a waste-wood burner using broken pallets and boxes.
Branston’s aim is for the factory to become completely independent of all external utilities within a year.
Mark Willcox, Branston director of development, told freshinfo: “We recognised that there was a huge market for prepared, value-added potato product.
“If you listen to what consumers really want and you combine that with the passionate pursuit of efficiency, you can always survive. I’m very upbeat about the market for potatoes and prepared potatoes in the UK - we are continually looking for the next big thing, and also the next little thing, to improve and innovate.
“It is often said that green initiatives are just a PR exercise, but we really believe in this because low carbon means low cost. We plan to use anaerobic digestion to create energy and thermal imaging to identify hotspots and save energy.”
Two-thirds of Tesco’s fresh potatoes are already supplied by Branston and the retailer will be the main customer for the new factory, with further prospects for export to the French retail market.
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