The Bradford factory, which started production at the end of July, has 20 employees at present and plans to create 40 more jobs over the next 18 months.
CK Foods already has a pizza cheese processing plant in Hull, but has decided to expand into poultry products such as goujons, burgers and breaded chicken legs.
‘Opportunity in the market’
“We saw an opportunity in the market place and thought there was a gap for locally UK manufactured cooked chicken products,” md Omar Bhamji told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
“Hence we decided to go into it.”
Opportunity in the market
“There was a gap for locally UK manufactured cooked chicken products.”
- Omar Bhamji, md at CK Foods
Bhamji said the opportunity arose after the horsemeat scandal provoked concerns over the traceability of meat products from other parts of the world.
“Currently food is being produced all over the world but with little or no traceability and very little monitoring due to the distances from the market where it is consumed," he said.
‘Close to customer base’
“Being in the UK, we are pretty close to the customer base and we can ensure that we deliver the product they expect.”
As well as processing halal poultry, CK Foods has also been given halal certification for its cheese. Despite being a dairy product, animal enzymes can be used during the cheese making process.
Asked about the demand for halal in the UK, Bhamji said: “It is definitely a growing sector. I think the figures are all pointing upwards for the spending powers of the halal market.”
The 3,530m2 production facility in West Bowling, Bradford, features mincing and grinding, forming, cooking, battering and freezing technology.
CK Foods site facts
- Workforce to increase from 20 to 60
- Range of poultry products
- Production started at end of July