David Nairn, Burts Snacks managing director.
Following its acquisition of popcorn maker Savoury & Sweet in 2017, Burts Potato Chips has rebranded to become Burts Snacks.
The company also announced it has completed investments of more than £7 million at its Leicester and Plymouth sites in the UK as it targets sales of £100 million by 2022.
The investments include the installation of a new frying hall in Leicester and pallet handling automation in Plymouth.
Further capacity will be added to its flash-frying, popcorn and compression popping technologies in the second half of 2019, with a specific focus on flash-frying, where capacity will be increased by 300%.
Burts Snacks expects to grow its sales by 25% to £54.9 million this year.
David Nairn, Burts Snacks managing director, said: “At a time when other UK snack manufacturers are consolidating into larger, multinational portfolios, at Burts Snacks, we’re bucking the trend by staying true to our core values by remaining independent and investing in our people, products and facilities to ensure we maintain our status as the leading specialist in premium brand and private label snacks.”
The acquisition of Savoury & Sweet marked Burts’ first foray into the popcorn segment and saw the company purchase Savoury & Sweet’s 71,000-square-foot production facility in Leicester, as well as the offices and warehousing facilities on site.
Savoury & Sweet is best known for its Lord Poppington’s brand of popcorn, which features distinctive British branding and flavours such as cheese and onion, and chilli and lime. It also makes a line of sweet and salted popcorn called Popcorn & Me.
As well as Burts Potato Chips, Burts Snacks makes Guinness Crisps, Jim Beam Crisps, Levi Roots Crisps and Lentil Waves.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024