The Abergavenny Fine Food Company will increase production of its goat’s cheese range to satisfy demand following £1.2m in funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial.
The firm is the largest UK producer of soft goat’s cheese and is looking to expand its production by 120%, increasing the size of its current dairy facilities in Abergavenny to cater for a rise in demand.
Established in 1987 as a small farming enterprise by husband and wife team Anthony and Pam Craske, Abergavenny Fine Foods has steadily grown and diversified over the past three decades into a major producer of high quality food products. The business is now run by their daughter, Mel Bowman, and son, Bryson Craske, as managing director and commercial director respectively.
Annual turnover has grown significantly to £17.16m as of 31 March 2014. The firm now counts retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco among its clients and has recently started to export to Australia, and is making inroads into Taiwan and South Korea.
The funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial will support the expansion of Abergavenny Fine Foods’ diary facility in Abergavenny and will help the firm develop further business relationships with UK goat farmers, with the aim of processing over four million litres of milk a year.
“It’s clear that there’s a growing appetite for goat’s cheese products both in the UK and overseas, and I’m delighted that Abergavenny Fine Foods has positioned itself strongly to meet this demand,” said finance director Kate Innes. “We have plans in place to expand further, not just in the UK but also internationally, and the support from Santander has been instrumental with the investments we are making in manufacturing.”
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