The twin sisters won a £50,000 investment from Duncan Bannatyne and Hilary Devey on the BBC2 show Dragons’ Den in September last year. Since then, their manufacturing company Sweet Mandarin Sauces has gone from strength to strength.
In November 2012 they secured national listings for their gluten-free Sweet Mandarin sauces in 500 Sainsbury stores across the UK.
Now they have secured orders to supply Tesco and Ocado, plus markets in China, Russia, Switzerland and Germany.
Helen Tse told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “Free-from food is a huge market in Switzerland and Germany and we currently supply to the top hotels and delis there.
Russia is a growing market
“Their appreciation and understanding of the free-from and coeliac market and gluten-free diets is very advanced and it’s a pleasure to work with them. In addition, Russia is a growing market that we supply to.
“Exports are going to exceed UK markets just by virtue that the world is so big. We’ve had recent interest from the USA, Canada, Australia and Israel, which his exciting news and potential orders are huge.”
The new factory can run 60,000 bottles a week so capacity has been substantially increased to meet the requirements on volumes.
The twins have already taken on two staff and plan to take on another two by the end of 2013.
The sauces are also being accredited for kosher status, which is another new market.
They have further plans to branch out to a foodservice pack size soon.
The Chinese love these flavours
The sauces were produced from a family recipe in response to demand from coeliac customers in their Manchester-based restaurant Sweet Mandarin.
Tse said: “These sauces originated from China because the Chinese love these flavours. We have the added benefit of using Manchester water and being free of gluten, dairy, nuts and MSG [monosodium glutamate], which is a huge attraction for the Chinese consumer who is erring towards health-conscious and British-made quality products.”
But they won’t be ignoring the market in the UK.
Tse said: “Sainsbury’s still super busy. They are a great supermarket to work with and their dedication to the free-from market is commendable and engenders the trust of the consumer. We are one of their headline acts at the Allergy + Free From Show in London Olympia this June