The Abergavenny Fine Food Co. is set to end its production of flavoured, blended cheeses in order to focus on expanding and developing its exports and value-added lines.
The company says it has been experiencing a significant growth in this area over the last five years in keeping with market trends and has made key investments in this sector to support the growing demand for products such as halloumi fries, mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers.
The business secured a seven-figure finance package from HSBC UK this year to invest in its value-added lines of chilled and frozen dairy and plant-based appetiser and snacking items and vegan ranges. It says its new target is to reach £50million in sales within the next three years.
Despite bringing an end to its flavoured and blended cheese products, the company stated that it will continue to produce its goats cheese which was its very first product in 1981, but its range of Y-Fenni™, Tintern™, Harlech™ and St. Illtyd™ cheeses, won’t be available to consumers until 31st December 2020.
Restructure
Last month, The Abergavenny Fine Food Co. announced a board restructure to develop and implement its strategic plans.
CEOs and growth strategists Andrew Lord and Jason Rees were appointed chair and managing director respectively, to coincide with existing MD, Melanie Bowman, stepping down from the role after 15 years.
Jason Rees said: “The decision to close this chapter has not been taken lightly, but strategically we must focus on more profitable, scalable products to reinforce our growth and future-proof the business.
“We are growing our domestic business with our retail and wholesale partners in the UK and our export markets have also increased from 8% in 2017 to 20% this year.
“This is an agile and resilient business, with a great team which will continue to evolve to meet our customer and market needs. These are exciting times with plenty of opportunities for The Abergavenny Fine Food Co. to pursue.”
