Founded by Castellano, who trained as a butcher, charcutier and traiteur in the French Alps, the Castellano’s business specialises in premium quality air-cured and semi-cured meats, sausage and cooked deli products.
It supplies wholesalers and distributors, as well as retail and restaurant sectors.
Charcuterie pioneer
Since it started trading in the early 1980s Castellano’s has gained a reputation for providing premium, speciality products to businesses throughout the south west of England and beyond. Tulip described it as a charcuterie pioneer.
“British charcuterie is in strong growth and I am delighted that we have been able to take this opportunity to acquire the Castellano’s business,” said Tulip ceo Chris Thomas, commenting on the acquisition.
“The integration of the business into the wider Tulip organisation should enable Castellano’s to maintain its rightful position at the very fore of British charcuterie in terms of quality and innovation.”
String of investments
The development marks the latest in a string of investments by the business this year. Last month it announced it aimed to create up to 45 jobs in an £8M investment at its Ruskington plant in Lincolnshire, which makes Scotch eggs and cocktail sausages for the retail sector.
In August, the company revealed it was spending £16M at two factories at Bugle and Redruth in Cornwall in order to retain its capability to make traditional cured and smoked pork products.
In May, it revealed plans to pump £2.3M into a US-style food plant at Wednesbury in the West Midlands. The factory would make slow-cooked, pulled meat products, Tulip ceo Chris Thomas told FoodManufacture.co.uk earlier this month.
And in February, the company said it had invested £37M at its Ashton plant in Northamptonshire, its Spalding site in Lincolnshire and its Westerleigh site in Gloucestershire to boost pork exports to China.