Offal distributor Elmgrove Foods has made the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 list, made up of country’s fastest-growing companies.
Elmgrove Foods of Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, produces more than 100 beef, lamb, pork and chicken offal products, which are all distributed internationally. The company made it to 62 on the Sunday Times list.
To make it into the top 100, companies must have an operating profit of over £500,000 and annual sales must exceed £250,000. The distributor makes 100% of its profits from exports.
Stuart Dobson, managing director, said he was “thrilled” to have made the Fast Track 100 list, adding that the market for fifth-quarter products continues to grow.
“The export business for offal is becoming more and more competitive, with increased numbers of UK export start-ups and international customers coming direct to source products. Forging and maintaining long-lasting relationships between suppliers, customers and our strong team have been our recipe for the company’s success. Elmgrove’s key is creating new products regularly, our portfolio has over 100 products, which are of high quality and exceed customer expectations,” Dobson told Meatinfo.co.uk.
Elmgrove Foods also won last year’s Food and Drink Federation Exporter of the Year award, as well as the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2013.
Richard Branson, owner of Virgin, which has sponsored the fast-track list since it began in 1996, said: “This year’s Fast Track 100 is packed full of examples of entrepreneurs taking on many different challenges head-on. Their success is based on real team spirit and it is this togetherness, above and beyond any other factor, that sets great businesses apart from also-rans. The Fast Track 100 is testament to that spirit of creativity and camaraderie.”