American Muffin Co ramps up production capacity
The firm, which has recently picked up new listings with the Co-op Group, Superquinn and Dunnes Stores for its gluten-free bakery products, turned over £1m last year, but is hoping to increase that by 10-15% in 2011-2012, director Zoeb Bhujwalla told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
"We have installed the mezzanine but there is still a bit of work to do before everything is up and running. We are probably looking at early summer. The plan is to use the mezzanine for storage, packing and offices and focus manufacturing on the ground floor."
American Muffin Co has bought several pieces of new kit in recent weeks and will bring in more during the summer, said Bhujwalla, who was one of more than 20 food manufacturing bosses sitting around the table at Food Manufacture’s business leaders’ round table debate on January 18.
He added: “We've been looking at new depositors, racking and trays this year. We've also bought a new oven that hasn't been commissioned yet. We've been looking at new cooling solutions, but we haven't made any decisions yet."
Egg-free products
American Muffin Co has done a lot of development work on sugar-free muffins using polyols over the past year, and is also keen to build a presence in egg-free products, said Bhujwalla.
“I think there is huge mileage targeting the Indian diaspora. We know a lot of people are strict vegans, so they don't eat eggs, so it would be really great if one of the supermarkets took this on board.”
There are also plans to move into new territory in the spring with the launch of bite-size gluten-free cookies and flapjacks, he said.
"We are in advanced negotiations with a big brand about these products, but we are also looking a producing new products under the American Muffin brand as well."
He added: “I’d say that gluten-free now represents about 80-90% of our business. The market has been getting more crowded lately and the supermarkets are pushing their own-label lines, but there is still a place for high-quality branded products.
"By July/August time I predict that we will probably be 100% gluten-free."
