Seafood firm puts plans in plaice for London expansion

A Wolverhampton food company is expanding into the London market after investing £200,000 into a new trade counter and wholesale operation.

Seafood supplier Star Feast Foods has opened a new 3,000 sq ft facility near Canary Wharf that will supply its growing range of products to customers across London.

The company has installed freezer and chilling equipment at the unit and invested in two delivery vans and, following a marketing success in the Midlands, a fully-branded Tuk-Tuk sourced from Pune in India.

Bosses at the firm have already created four new jobs as part of the expansion plan, which it believes has the potential to deliver up to £3m of new sales over the next 12 months.

“This is a very exciting move for the business and reflects a growing appetite from across the UK for our own sustainable shrimp, as well as other seafood and poultry lines,” said Mohammed Khan, Business Development Manager at Star Feast Foods.

“We have always supplied into UK supermarkets and some restaurants in the South East, but felt the time was right to create a dedicated base locally that could meet growing demand and provide a trade counter offer.

“The £200,000 investment gives us a prime location in London and enough space to stock as many products as our headquarters in the West Midlands; the benefit being we can now supply our customers in a few hours whilst offering the general public the chance to buy shrimp and a wide range of other seafood and poultry over the counter in small quantities.”

The London opening marks a major period of growth for Star Feast Foods, which has seen its parent Star Agro Marine smash the £9m turnover barrier for the first time – a 30% increase on the previous year’s sales.

Backed by a marketing campaign and increased production capabilities, the company has been able to secure a string of new contracts with high street retailers and wholesalers, whilst also enjoying a significant upturn in the number of Asian restaurants looking to use its products in their cooking.

There are also plans in place for the firm to open a third base in the South West, with the possibility of acquiring a complementary business with an already established footprint in the region.

Steve Money, Managing Director, said: “Moving into London and South East market is a natural stage in our development and the next step in us achieving £15m sales by the end of 2018.”