Angus Allan, md of the company, told FoodManufacture.co.uk that the project had taken a year to finish.
The new plant would give the business, which supplies retail customers such as Waitrose and Booths and Ocado as well as foodservice clients, a big boost, he said. “It means we will be able to double our turnover in the next three years. Our current turnover is £8M.”
He added: “At the moment there are 50 of us. That will rise to 75-80 potentially within three years.
‘More space’
“We have invested £2.5M in items such as more space, better segregation of areas, better drainage, improved wash facilities, an improved, positive-filtered, refrigerated air system, and double door, pass-through rack ovens.
“We have also purchased new processing equipment such as a liquid nitrogen tunnel, planetary mixers and chocolate melting tanks.”
While UK business continued to be strong, the firm was achieving considerable sales growth through exports, with the bulk of that being driven by non-EU markets, said Allan. “A lot of recent growth is being driven by exports. We supply Australia, the Middle East, Singapore and our European neighbours.”
‘Stringent export controls’
He said that he was keen to secure listings in China, but that working through the country’s “stringent export controls” was slow going. “The recommended route seems to be through Hong Kong.”
At the moment, exports represent roughly a quarter of Indulgence Patisserie’s sales and Allan said he wanted to maintain that proportion, while increasing total sales.
The company was founded in 1988 and launched its export business in 2003. In addition to its Indulgence brand, it also supplies own-label desserts to a range of customers.