Page 20 - Inform December 2019

Condiments & Sauces Update Drive for Operational Excellence Continues Crucials drive for operational excellence has resulted in the team being awarded an AA grade in their most recent BRC Audit, an improvement on last year’s A grade. Congratulations to everyone involved! Chandlers also achieved a silver rating following an unannounced M&S Integrity Audit and a green rating in Tesco’s August audit, while the Northampton site achieved an A+ grade following an unannounced BRC audit in October. These are all brilliant examples of how our manufacturing sites are fulfilling operational excellence objectives with key retailers. Business Initiatives The Brackmills site has recently introduced the Pirana Maintenance System, which was rolled out across the business. The system allows scheduling, meter readings, reporting and asset management requests to be completed in a more efficient manner. The site has a busy schedule in the coming months: • At the end of November, the gas boiler main and old water softener platform was renewed. • At the start of December, a new sterilisation chamber was installed in Heat Treatment to ensure legal compliance. • In early December the Tesco Wicked grinder line modifications will start. This involves changing the capper to accommodate new screw-off caps. • In December a new dust extraction system will be fitted above the Guttridge systems. • Line 3 Metal Detector upgrade will start at the end of January 2020. Crucials Asda has confirmed that we are now their fourth biggest table sauce brand, with Garlic Mayo firmly positioned as one of their top 10 SKUs. In comparison to 2018, we have grown by 131%. During Q4 we also secured aisle blinkers in all Asda stores. In wholesale, following the success of the Garlic & Herb retail SKU, we have now launched a 1L catering bottle. Sales have been secured with over 50% of our customer base, with repeat orders already flowing in. New Product Development Our Northampton and Chandlers Ford sites have successfully launched a number of high-profile new products. Within the M&S BBQ summer range we launched a range of dry rubs and spice seasonings (from our Northampton facility) and a signature M&S BBQ sauce bottle (from our Chandlers Ford facility). As part of that Summer range we also secured our first ever sauce sachet business, supplying BBQ sauce for over 500,000 protein packs. 20