160 | UK Enterprise Awards 2023 Apr23278 Most Innovative Food Production Company 2023 - Northern Ireland In 1968, Willowbrook Foods was established when CEO/Founder, John McCann, MBE, began farming vegetables on his father’s land and selling the produce in local markets. John soon identified a consumer demand for convenient vegetable products and pioneered the provision of pre-prepared own grown farm vegetables for sale in supermarkets. The company started out producing, preparing, and packaging vegetables and soup mixes, until it scored its first major contract with Wellworths in 1978. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, striving to be recognised as the best producer and supplier of fresh, convenient, high-quality, and innovative products on the market. Today, Willowbrook Foods partners with some of the biggest retail stores and wholesale sectors across Ireland and the UK mainland, offering a vast range of salad lines, deli products, prepared vegetables, and potato and root vegetable mash accompaniments. The company provides core and added value lines and can deliver both branded and own-label products to meet the needs of its partners. As well as this, Willowbrook Foods currently supplies several of the most iconic high street food service brands with fresh ingredients, which are convenient to use on pizzas, in salads, and in sandwiches. As well as this, the company delivers bespoke salads to fast casual restaurant chains, all delivered by the UK’s leading food distributors. Lastly, Willowbrook Foods supports the industrial and ready meal markets across Great Britain and Ireland. By providing quality, assurance, and consistency in this sector, the company enables its partners to evolve their offerings and expand into the retail and wholesale sectors with confidence. Operating in the UK and Ireland, Willowbrook Foods has noticed a number of emerging trends in the market. For example, there has been an increase in consumption of high protein foods to achieve health benefits, weight loss, and muscle growth. This has increased consumption of alternative protein sources like beans and fortified products such as tofu. This trend has been key in the company’s development of its added value Food To Go products throughout 2023 thus far. Additionally, the plant-based food market continues to grow in popularity. Today, it is estimated that about one in four people identify as flexitarian. This is accompanied by a recent emergence of ‘reducetarianism’, referring to people who consciously choose to reduce their intake of animal products without adhering to a strictly vegan or vegetarian diet. As a result of this trend, there is currently immense pressure on suppliers to respond to increased demand for plant-based products. However, because of the cost-of-living crisis, people are also seeking value now more than ever. For this reason, Willowbrook Foods strives to make its products as cost effective as possible, reducing overall pack weight and engineering high value items to more economical sources. This has been key to the business, as well as the process of re-engineering its current products to adhere to lower RSPs. Despite the challenges, Willowbrook Foods believes that this trend will have a huge positive impact on the environment, primarily by reducing potential food waste. It has been estimated that 30% of food made for human consumption is never eaten. This has a huge impact on climate change, contributing towards up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2022, Willowbrook Foods made significant changes across its three factories, having invested £1.4 million in two state-of-the-art Italian lettuce wash lines, £1 million in a bespoke dissolved air flotation plant, and £300k in a vegan/plant-based factory. Furthermore, in a recent unannounced audit by the BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard, Willowbrook Foods achieved AA+ BRC certification in the new Version 9 standard. It also won Food Supplier of the Year in Northern Ireland’s Food Awards 2023. The company is incredibly proud of the fact that it has achieved so much in the last year, all while working closely with the UK government to provide employment and homes for displaced refugees. To add to its growing number of triumphs, as a result of its pioneering food products and its continued excellence, Willowbrook Foods has been awarded Most Innovative Food Production Company in the UK Enterprise Awards 2023. We congratulate the company on this achievement and wish it the best of luck as it works to carry out numerous sustainability projects, drive innovative healthy eating initiatives, and implement increased automation to reduce waste in the coming years. Contact: Fiona McMullan, Senior Commercial Manager Company: Willowbrook Foods Web Address: willowbrookfoods.co.uk Based on the McCann family farm in Killinchy, County Down, Willowbrook Foods is a leading fresh food producer and processing company, creating a variety of products which are exported throughout the UK and Ireland. The company prides itself on its commitment to listening to its customers’ needs, sharing leadership in innovation excellence, and consistently delivering quality products.
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