Meat production unit completes £350,000 expansion

Southover Food Company has completed a £350,000 refurbishment and expansion plan at its meat production unit in Southwick, Sussex.

The expansion has increased production space by almost 30%, and added a new slicing and dispatch unit, plus a development kitchen.

Southover Foods, which produces a range of cooked meats, pies and cheeses, overhauled the 93 square metre Southwick site in Sussex, which was occupied by its Higgidy pies brand. It put in new flooring, walls and updated the refrigerated area.

The company was given a £50,000 grant by the South East England Development Agency to undertake the development. One of the conditions of the grant is that, over two years, the unit will take on at least six additional members of staff.

The site produces gammons, bacon products and roast pork and beef, which are supplied to independents, pub chains and a large sandwich chain based in London.

Md Steve Pearce said that he expected the refurbishment and investment to double the annual turnover generated by the company’s meat products to £2M.

Pearce said: “The refurbishment, which started in November 2007, was a lot harder than we anticipated. We’ve been working evenings and weekends.”

The Higgidy pies range, which was originally based at the Southwick site, is now based at a 93 square metre site in Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. The Higgidy range needed more room to expand, after securing a contract to supply Sainsbury, Pearce said.

He added: “As a company, we are undoubtedly feeling the pressure of increased electricity and fuel bills. Pork and beef prices have gone up by a ridiculous amount. As a result we suffered heavy margin losses in March, April and May but we’ve clawed them back by putting up our prices by about 7-10%.”

He said that the purchase price for pork had gone up 30% and beef had almost doubled over the past year. “Food has been too cheap for too long. When I started in 1989 the first legs of pork that I bought were 64p a pound. In February this year you could still buy legs of pork for 64p a pound. It’s incredible that 19 years later it’s still the same.”