Kwoks Foods, a leading UK supplier of oriental ready meals, is expanding production capacity at its factory five fold, following the success of its grab-bag meal range, which it launched only a few years ago.
Grimsby-based Kwoks pioneering 'grab-bag' meals now account for approaching 50 per cent of its turnover and are still growing. Meal deal bags are sold through the Asda supermarket chain and a small number of complimentary, specialist outlets such as food retailer Rocket. Now the company is seeking to build on this success by expanding its factory with another purpose built unit.
Kwoks believes its success is down to a head start over the competition - a result of the company's co-founder, Paul Kwok. His restaurant background provided the impetus for him to become development chef while his founding partner Wayne Rowlatt's retail experience has enabled the company to introduce its meals to an ever increasing, mass consumer base.
The result, according to Kwoks, is food of restaurant quality in a supermarket bag. To capitalise on demand, Kwoks operations manager Gavin Milligan and his team are now gearing up to increase production of the company's 'grab-bag' range which includes a meals for one, two and four and which takes in traditional Chinese and Thai cooking as well as regional oriental specialities such as Cantonese and Szechwan.
Milligan said: "One of the big advantages of our meals is the cost savings that retailers can make on staffing over traditional individual counter serving. This successful merchandising format means that consumers can now pick up a complete, restaurant quality type meal deal without the need for any queuing.
"All our meals are put together by food specialists, who work very hard to ensure that everything in them is mutually compatible. But providing the consumer with convenience does not mean quality has to be sacrificed. On the contrary, our standards are as high as any Chinese restaurant," added Milligan.
With Kwoks readying to expand their operations by moving into premises with larger, state of the art kitchens the company is now developing further dishes to meet consumer demands that can now be served by the increased production capacity. Presenting the consumer with a complete meal, ready to go, is set to be a major growth area and the way ahead for forward thinking supermarkets like Asda and food producers like Kwoks.
Despite being launched just over three years ago, Kwoks turnover has grown from £6.8 million (€9.7m) in the last year to an impressive projected £9.1 million for 2004.
Kwoks cooking method is simplicity itself. Recipes are cooked in large woks and then cooled very quickly to retain real freshness throughout normal on-shelf life.
The majority of meals are stocked by supermarket giant Asda, part of the Wal-Mart group, with stores throughout the UK.
Summarising, managing director Ian Rosindale said: "Our strength lies in our ability to innovate and quickly adapt to changing market needs. This ability has led to the company's success in the chilled food retail sector and the decision to build another purpose built factory."
Kwoks Foods is part of the William Jackson group, which supported investment in the expansion.
For further information about Kwoks Foods please contact Wayne Rowlatt.