Fullers Foods secures £12.5m deal with Marks & Spencer
FROZEN foods wholesaler Fullers Foods International has joined forces with Marks & Spencer to revamp its potato accompaniments range.
The £12.5m deal, which encompasses nine frozen potato lines and three chilled accompaniments, will give the frozen food specialist an enterprise value in excess of £250m by next year.
Further activity will see the range expanded next month with the launch of four new lines.
Fullers Foods was founded by Harry Fuller in 1876 in Leeds market. Today, Fullers supplies most of the biggest names in the UK grocery sector including Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose and Aldi.
Under the joint ownership of Adam and Jason Fuller, the Leeds-based company has grown to become a leading supplier of products and services to the UK frozen food industry sourcing more than 600 lines of food – 300,000 tonnes per year – supported by more than 100 factories across Britain, northern Europe and the Far East. Turnover has increased from £40m in 2006 to £240m in 2014.
Jason Fuller said: “With increasing focus on convenience and consumers buying into the benefits of frozen food, this is the perfect time for us to be joining forces with Marks & Spencer and strengthen stability within this market.
“Marks & Spencer is highly complementary to our business and this partnership is in line with the continued work that we have been doing to further regulate and enhance the technical standards and quality of the industry from the farm right through to the plate.”
Fullers Foods will work with Marks & Spencer on a five-year plan to review the full supply chain, from sourcing raw materials and management of potato varieties through to optimising production processes, product upgrades and packaging.
