EHL Ingredients has expanded its premises and invested £1million in a new 8000 square foot site on the Broadstone Industrial Estate, Reddish, Stockport, in a bid to keep up with growing customer demand for its products.
With two facilities already on the estate, this is EHL’s third unit, taking the total space to 40,000 square feet. The third site houses new machinery, including a vertical form filler which fills pillow bags and tubs for dried herbs and spices, seeds and powders, as well as other products. It will allow the company to process greater volumes of food ingredients, driven by an increase in customer requests and from existing clients placing larger orders.
In addition to the new premises, the supplier of international food ingredients is celebrating several key achievements; in the last 12 months it has launched a new foodservice brand, Lähde, it has made several key staff appointments in blending and packing departments, and once again achieved Class A BRC (British Retail Consortium) accreditation in its recent audit. The firm currently has 46 employees, its largest headcount to date, and is recruiting for several roles across the business. It also rebranded and launched a new website with more exciting developments in the pipeline.
Tasneem Alonzo, joint managing director at EHL Ingredients says: “We’ve outgrown our capacity in terms of storage, staff, machinery, administration and loading areas so needed a space to allow us to expand the business longer term. We decided to stay local and on the same industrial estate instead of moving our whole premises so when this unit came up, we were keen to review it.
“Over the last 12 months we’ve been taking orders for larger quantities which means we need to increase capacity. This new site will allow us to process more orders and higher volumes, more efficiently and quickly and the installation of the new machinery will enhance production and allow us to continue to innovate further.
“The food ingredient sector is certainly in a period of growth and with the rise in popularity of organic, free-from, vegan and vegetarian foods, we’re continuously innovating to bring retailers, brands, manufacturers and caterers the right ingredients to suit consumer trends.
“Despite the uncertain times we are in, we’re confident in our position as a company. We’ve strengthened our teams, developed many new herb and spice blends, broadened our product portfolio and expanded our customer base into new territories, especially in Scandinavia. “We’ve had some landmark achievements in the last year, and indeed over the 23 years of operating, and we’re looking forward to further growth and to building on our reputation as a leading supplier of food ingredients from around the world.”
