Confectionery firm’s sweet deal on exports
A FOOD company which exports more than 75 per cent of its bespoke cakes, biscuits, sauces and desserts to the EU is taking steps to ensure it continues to prosper in Europe after Brexit takes effect.
Leeds-based Pecan Deluxe Candy, which supplies food and drink companies, quick-service restaurants and bakeries across the EU, said it has hired overseas trade specialist Chamber International to help improve its exporting efficiency and enhance its marketing within the EU, to help offset any challenges posed by the UK’s decision to leave.
Pecan Deluxe Candy, a family business that exports to continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa from its UK headquarters in Sherburn-in-Elmet, says it is already having to work harder to combat challenges posed by the fall in the value of the pound as the company imports 90 per cent of raw materials used in its products.
Graham Kingston, European and Asia Pacific managing director, said: “We are a big company trading successfully within the EU and we are determined to ensure that this remains the case. We want to adapt as smoothly as possible to any changes and challenges in trading circumstances which arise from the UK’s impending departure from the EU.
“But we have to be realistic about the challenges and prepare now. All our main competitors are on the continent and we need to avoid the perception that leaving the UK leads to us being perceived as ‘an outsider’ although we have traded in Europe for decades. We also want to ensure that we can continue to recruit people with the right skills if any eventual deal about the UK leaving the EU reduces worker migration.”
Pecan Deluxe was founded as a retail ice cream business in Dallas, Texas, by the first generation of the family, JC Brigham, in 1950. The business was sold in 1983 so the company could concentrate on manufacturing and supplying the ice cream inclusions, such as praline nuts and sauces, where the family saw greater future potential. The US operation now has a turnover of $115m.
The company was established in the UK in 1999 and currently has 120 people based in Yorkshire, a turnover of around £12m, and still has members of the Brigham family on the board.