Crews from Greater Manchester Fire Service were called to the Glendale Frozen Foods facility in Salford on the evening of Tuesday (July 10), after a fire had broken out.
Glendale Foods chairman John Mortimer told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “The middle section of our site where we assemble all of our snacks has been completely written off. But our cold store is in perfect condition – there isn’t even a whiff of smoke in there. Luckily, all of our stock is safe.”
The site is split into three sections and only one part was affected by the fire.
Around 50 firefighters and 12 fire engines worked through the night to extinguish the blaze and prevent it from spreading to the rest of the facility.
Workers from a nearby building were led to safety during the incident, in which no-one was injured.
In a statement, Paul Etches, from Greater Manchester Fire Service (GMFS), said: “It’s a massive site and the crews did a really good job preventing the fire from spreading.”
‘Severe’ damage
Describing the damage as “severe” a spokeswoman from GMFS told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “There was 100% damage to part of the processing plant.”
Mortimer said: “I walked in yesterday and took photos of what used to be the production area. It had completely gone.”
An investigation has been launched to establish the source of the blaze.
Mortimer said the business was already bouncing back.
“Fire investigators and insurers have already started work,” he said. “The rebuild starts now.”
Battle begins
Glendale Foods makes snacks, sausages, meatballs, stuffing balls and burgers for wholesale and foodservice clients.
The major bulk of production will remain in operation but there may be some products the company will be unable to supply when the current stocks have run out.
The company has been flooded with offers of assistance with storage and packaging from customers and even competitors.
“It’s a small trade the frozen food industry,” said Mortimer. “We’re going to see people today with regard to co-packing various products.”
Stocks of frozen raw material were not affected are already being loaded for despatch to customers.
“We’re confident our banks and insurers will support us,” said Mortimer. “14 days will see us back in full business.”