The investment adds to capacity at the plant, which already produces 40m burgers annually for foodservice and retail customers in the UK. The system is also designed to cut down on energy costs.
Md Eamon Mackle said: “In line with our focus on developing a range of quality burgers and other value-added products, we invest extensively in R&D programmes to meet the needs of our discerning customers.
“Our current customer profile includes Punch Taverns, which has 8,000 pubs, as well as Fairways, Caterforce, Sodexo, Budgens, Londis, Netto and Glendale Frozen Foods to mention a few. Within the next few weeks we will start supplying a new range of burgers to a leading UK retailer with 5,000 stores and 300 wholesale centres.”
Freeza Meats has been operating since 1974 and initially supplied meat products in Northern Ireland. In 1988, the company changed direction, partnered with Farmlea Foods as selling agent, and entered the UK beefburger market.
The company now runs the only privately-owned, stand-alone burger plant in Northern Ireland.