TSC Foods

Source: Food and Drink Digital

Date :11/04/2008 16:13:48

TSC Foods Ltd is expanding rapidly. Exec looks at the success of the leading manufacturer of high quality chilled and frozen products

Written by Jane Fisher and Produced by Hannah Edwards

UK-based TSC Foods Ltd might be growing at a phenomenal rate but Commercial Director Mark Allibone says it is resisting the temptation to diversify. It is vital, he says, to “stick to your knitting” - to focus on products that can be produced in the company’s unique single process and that add value to any category it enters.“We are not looking to diversify,” he stresses. “We want to develop what we do - and grow by continually ensuring we do it better.”

Award-winning TSC Foods operates from two manufacturing facilities in Scunthorpe. It is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of high quality chilled and frozen soups, sauces, risottos, dressings, salsa and dips, vinaigrettes, marinades, gravies and coulis including fruit, dessert and savoury, as well as prepared cooked vegetables and complete meal solutions.

It creates its products in a single process that allows long shelf life and permits soups and sauces and products with small particulates to be created to the highest quality standards. These can be supplied to any organisation that has centralised distribution. Among others, the business currently supplies restaurant chains, supermarkets, pub chains, motorway service stations, food service distributors, convenience stores, department stores and coffee shops.

“The company started 16 years ago after we saw a gap in the market for good quality, long life food products,” explains Mr, Allibone. “Today, 65 percent of our business is supplying top high street names, supermarkets and restaurants, with our products. As well as our core range, we offer bespoke products, which are developed on a one-to-one basis in partnership with our customers.”

Growth across the board

The remaining 35 percent of TSC Foods’ production goes towards its business to business sales. The company supplies other food producers with key ingredients that add value to meat, fish, vegetables and ready meal products.

TSC Foods’ products in this area range from simple hollandaise and red wine sauces (to accompany fillets of fish or pork chops) to specially created recipes that can include proprietary ingredients such as branded wines and spirits. For major customers looking to produce high volumes, TSC Foods has invested in the necessary technology to be able to offer sauces in every size from pouches to buckets, to one tonne pallecons.

“Our core range was originally soups and sauces,” says Mr Allibone. “We have, however, now added a range of premium chilled dressings, dips, chutneys, relishes and risottos.

“We have had an amazing couple of years in which we have seen growth across the board in what we do - and we expect to continue to see further growth potential in all product areas.”

Investing in its facilities

Using stock of the highest quality, TSC Foods manufactures both chilled and frozen products in hot fill or cold blended areas. It also has the ability to sauté or roast ingredients to add the in-home cooked flavours.

Its sauces include savoury, base, meat, pasta and dessert sauces, while its soups come in a wide range of varieties. As well as its risottos and rice dishes, dips and dressings, the company also produces bruschetta mixes and salsas, glazes,drizzles and recipe dishes.

The company has two facilities at its Scunthorpe site. The Red Building is currently dedicated to the production of retail soups and sauces presented in pots as well as cold-fill and deli products in a variety of formats. The Blue Building focuses on hot-fill pouch and sachet production. In total, these two buildings give TSC Foods a production area of almost 9,000 square metres.

The production process uses state of the art equipment that in pot format allows extended shelf life to be offered, usually up to 28 days for tomato based products and up to 21 days for other recipes. For product in flexible pouch format, shelf lives can be offered up to 60 days.

“We are continually investing in new machinery and equipment,” says Mr. Allibone. “Our kitchen principals are to use the same equipment as those that are used in restaurants and at home. So if we are sautéing, for example, we will use a large sauté pan. If we are making stir fry, we will use an enormous wok.”

Working with the development and technical teams, the kitchens create recipes both to meet specific briefs and to encourage customers to make their menus more exciting and shelves more tempting.

Winning awards

Over the years, TSC Foods has scooped a number of prestigious awards. These include the Whitbread (2001), Most Innovative Supplier of the Year (Mitchells and Butler, 2002 and 2003), Gold award Best Meat Free Vegetarian Product Wild Mushroom Risotto (BFFF, 2003), Gold award Best New Accompaniment/Potato/Vegetable Product (BFFF, 2004) and Supplier of the Year (Mitchells and Butler, 2005).

Although the company does export some products to Ireland and Europe, the vast majority of its customers are UK-based. Although always looking for opportunities, TSC Foods is not particularly targeting business abroad, says Mr. Allibone.Future growth, he stresses, will come from working with new customers at home and developing the product range within the company’s area of expertise.

TSC has, for example, recently launched a new range of products developed with chef Marco Pierre White. "It is important for us to spend a lot of time developing our product range and expanding our brand across all areas of our competency,” he says. “We do want to keep growing but it is important to do so from a solid base.”

The company, which has seen an average 20 percent annual growth in recent years, expects to see an annual turnover of between £26 million and £27 million for 2007.

“And we do expect to see our growth continue at much the same rate over the coming years,” admits Mr. Allibone. “This means we will be increasing our capacity in the future but we won’t be diversifying. “Our plan is to stick to what we do best - to stick to our knitting.”