West Wales-based Puffin Produce Ltd has undergone a £2 million expansion.
The Pembrokeshire farmer owned potato-growing business has added a new cold storage facility to its headquarters near Haverfordwest, and plans to use local expertise and materials to help it achieve its business targets.
Puffin currently packs around 35,000 tonnes of potatoes a year both for supermarkets and its own Blas Y Tir brand, and the firm hopes that the new facility will help meet its growing customer demand.
Covering 35,000 sq.ft, the high-tech temperature controlled units will be able to each store up to 1,400 boxes, and are currently being filled with potatoes for use over the winter and next spring.
James Smith, Puffin’s commercial manager, said: “The addition of the five new units has added a further 7,500 tonnes to our storage capability.
“Therefore we need to buy more potato boxes, and we are delighted that we have been able to use a local manufacturer who is not only based just a few miles away but sources the wood locally.”
The first consignment of boxes from James Davies Sawmills have already been filled, and, when complete, will total some 3,100 specially crafted potato boxes at a cost of over £225,000.
Family-run James Davies Sawmills is manufacturing the boxes at Eglwyswrw, near its state-of-the-art £4m sawmill in Cenarth, Newcastle Emlyn. The boxes are then delivered to Puffin by local haulier AJ Carrington & Sons.
Quinton Davies, whose family established the sawmills in the 1800s, said: “Each box is made by a dedicated team to a specific design and goes through a rigorous process of stress grading. This is the first time we have supplied Puffin Produce, and as a result, it has created three new jobs in addition to the existing 40 employees.”
Puffin’s new storage facility and purchase of the boxes represents an investment of £2.5m altogether, and is the latest investment undertaken by the company, which has seen rapid growth in both market share and facilities.
This latest phase of development by Puffin has been assisted by the Welsh government’s Processing and Marketing Grant scheme.
“We have had a lot of support from the Welsh Government to increase our business and we have gained new retail customers as a result,” Puffin’s MD, Huw Thomas, said.
“Also, being able to continue to invest in and grow our company ultimately has a positive ripple effect on the local economy and the sustainability of businesses in this area. We are seeing a positive effect on our farmer growers and local businesses like James Davies Sawmills, and that is great news for west Wales.”
In recent years, with Welsh government and EU support, around £12.5m in capital expenditure has been invested in the business, enabling Puffin to increase its volume sales by 50 per cent, and to boost its workforce to 120.
Deputy minister for farming and food, Rebecca Evans, said: “I am delighted to see that Puffin Produce are expanding following financial support from the Welsh government. Last December, Pembrokeshire Early Potatoes was the third product in Wales to receive Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, which has raised its profile across Europe.
'We have supported this company since its infancy and it is so encouraging to see it go from strength to strength and now increase its workforce.”
Puffin Produce evolved from the Pembrokeshire Potato Marketing Group, a grower’s co-operative formed in the 1970s.
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