The Telford-based site had processed between 10,000t and 15,000t of potatoes a year in the past, but director David Farley’s drive to maximise efficiency had increased that by between 5,000t and 7,000t, he said.
“We’ve enjoyed a pretty extensive £2M investment programme that we’re just coming to the end of and that’s got us standing nicely – the factory is geared up to put [extra] volume through,” Farley told FoodManufacture.co.uk in this podcast.
‘Future investment’
“In terms of future investment – will it be capacity or capability? That’s the ultimate question, but where we see ways of doing things differently, we will invest.”
It was likely any future investment would be in processing capabilities. Further capacity investment would not go ahead unless Swancote managed to attract a new major customer, he added.
Listen to this podcast to hear Farley talk about the effects of last year’s horsemeat scandal on the business.
Meanwhile, subscribe to the December issue of Food Manufacture to read why Farley believes his factory would appeal to the celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal.