Investment in NPD and exportshashelped Mash Direct to strong sales growth, the prepared vegetable manufacturer has said.
A range of salad snacks called Nourish Bowls were among the innovative products launched last year by the company. The sandwich alternatives come in Italian, Chinese and Moroccan flavour combinations.
For the year to 28 February 2017, the company reported turnover of £15.97 million compared to £14.96m in the 12 months previous.
Marketing and new markets director Jack Hamilton said: “Our continued investment in new product development and exports has led to fantastic growth in the last year.
“Following on from a strong start to 2017 we have accelerated our growth. Mash Direct has grown 6.7 percent since the previous figures already. This has been driven especially by exports.”
The company now sells half of its products to British customers, including major supermarkets, and it says it has invested in efficiencies that will “further enhance competitiveness, especially in markets outside Northern Ireland”.
In 2017 the company was named Food and Drink Manufacturer of the Year at Insider magazine’s Made in Northern Ireland Awards and it won the award for SME of the Year at The Telegraph’s Festival of Business, along with a host of other awards and nominations.
In 2016 the manufacturer also won the Innovation Award at the SIAL Middle East trade show in Abu Dhabi, demonstrating its growing success in export markets.
Based on a family farm at Comber in county Down, Mash Direct is a producer of vegetable and potato dishes and convenience meals.
It supplies more than 40 products across the UK and Ireland, as well overseas to the US and Middle East, principally the United Arab Emirates.
