More than 100 firefighters and 20 appliances battled the blaze at the Basildon depot of Kent Foods on the evening of Saturday 29 August. The cause of the fire is now under investigation by Essex County Fire and Rescue.
A report from Essex County Fire and Rescue on the fire revealed that more than 350 tonnes of syrup and treacle had leaked from the building.
Kent Foods, which distributes sugars, dairy products and other ingredients to food manufacturers, throughout the UK and Europe said it had introduced contingency plans to ensure continuity of supply.
Contingency
“The news that no one was injured during this fire is most welcome,” Iain Dalglish, chairman of Kent Foods, said.
“Our staff have moved quickly to transfer operations to our five other depots ensuring that disruption to customers will be minimal, if any, whilst several suppliers have interrupted their Bank Holiday to ensure we are quickly restocked. I am grateful to them all for the resilience they have shown.
“We have formed a task force to liaise with our Basildon colleagues with a view to minimising the impact upon them until we can rebuild or establish a new base in the Essex area.”
Challenging
Dalglish said Kent Foods was grateful to Essex County Fire and Rescue’s professionalism in tackling the challenging fire and to the Environment Agency and Anglian Water for reacting quickly to help minimise environmental damage.
In 2017, Kent Foods revealed it was to move into Symingtons’ former noodle factory in Leeds, as part of plans to expand its operations.
In 2018, baking ingredients manufacturer Real Good Food sold subsidiary Garrett Ingredients to Kent Foods, in a deal worth about £1.8m.