Northern Ireland’s Mash Direct, based in Comber, recently published its results for the year ending February 28 2021. The firm has added £2 million to its turnover in this financial year following an increased demand across the nation for vegetables, in particular prepared vegetables. The award-winning ‘field-to-fork’ vegetable accompaniments brand achieved sales growth of 9% in the financial year ending 2022.
Despite the impact of the pandemic on the Food Service sector and the company’s cost base, Mash Direct still managed to achieve 0.9% growth in sales and maintain gross profit margins.
During this time, the company met shopper’s demand for vegetables, as they look for products to boost their health and make meal preparation more convenient. People were looking for quality and provenance in 2021 as sales for the Mash Direct range grew by 9%, which was more than double the growth of the ready meals category (3.6%) in the UK. Consumers were also looking for convenience, with their sales booming while the market for fresh potatoes fell by £71 million in 2021.
The growth in sales has been supported by the £7.5 million Mash Direct invested into the business in the last year, which has served to increase factory capacity and staffing levels.
The investment also helped the brand continue its pledges to bolster its sustainability credentials, commitments which have seen it secure listings with Co-Op and Morrisons in recent months.
The re-investment has allowed an increase in salary costs to attract new talent and deliver further growth with 31 new positions being created in the last 12 months.
The brand’s factory expansion and new office build on site in County Down is now complete, with modernisation techniques including packing robots already installed. The farm has grown from farming 70 acres in 2003 to 1,600 acres in 2021. Traditional varieties of vegetables are grown, with the entire range being cooked on site. In addition, a second Fry Line, new digital requisition and purchase order system and new barcode/warehouse system are key elements of the expansion to help facilitate an increase in demand and capacity.
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