Ready meals and accompaniments are what a vegetable entrepreneur is hoping are his latest tickets to success.
Willowbrook Fine Foods, a recently launched business in Northern Ireland, is bidding for success in the UK and the Republic of Ireland with an initial range of ready meals and accompaniments.
Based at Killinchy in County Down, a key area for growing potatoes and vegetables in Northern Ireland, Willowbrook Fine Foods represents an investment of over £2 million, and will provide 55 new jobs - including 16 at management level - over the next three years.
Willowbrook Fine Foods has been established by successful local food entrepreneur John McCann, who has a wealth of experience in the vegetable industry and runs a successful family farm in the area.
Mr McCann says: “Willowbrook Fine Foods enables us to focus on a new business activity, the creation of premium ready meals and accompaniments, which are fast-growing segments of the UK and Irish food markets.
“We’ve already launched meal accompaniments such as Creamy Colcannon, Parmentier Potatoes and Honey and Mustard Parsnip. These are among 10 products that have been created by our new product development team.
“The new company is already processing and marketing these and another 30 products in the pipeline which are all aimed at the mid- to high-end market sectors in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The initiative is proving extremely popular and has already gained listings from key retailers.”
Willowbrook Fine Foods began operations in December, and currently employs three people.
Vegetable growing and processing is a £200 million industry in Northern Ireland, which sells over 60 per cent of its retail output to customers including retail multiples in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
