A state-of-the-art £1.6 million sprout processing facility has been opened by Scottish rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead.
Drysdales' new plant near Cockburnspath, East Lothian, will improve product quality, reduce waste and is expected to result in a £1m boost to the local economy.
Mr Lochhead was at the plant to view the new facility which will add 20 jobs to the existing 130 employees.
Drysdales supplies British supermarkets with over 28,000 tonnes of fresh Scottish vegetables all year round.
It is a fully integrated business, controlling the growing and processing of all the products it supplies and delivers 364 days of the year.
A grant of £647,647 from the Food Processing Marketing and Co-operation Scheme (FPMC) was awarded in early 2011 by the Scottish Government towards the new facility.
On opening it, Mr Lochhead said: “I am delighted to officially open Drysdales’ impressive new sprout processing facility at Cockburnspath which has been supported by a Scottish Government food processing grant of almost £0.65m.
"Drysdales are a fine example of a Scottish company totally focussed on meeting the needs of their customers - both home and abroad - whilst providing a secure market for a large number of Scottish growers. I wish the staff and management of the company every success for the future.”
Angus Bell, Tesco category buying manager for Local in Scotland said: “Drysdales' new facility will give the capacity to handle additional sprout throughput and it will also result in temperature controlled processing and storage which will further improve product quality to our customers and reduce any waste."
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