Seabrook snaps up major deal in Australia
YORKSHIRE CRISP giant Seabrook increased turnover thanks to a major new contract to supply discount supermarket chain Aldi in Australia.
Bosses at the Bradford-based manufacturer say they are on target to achieve four per cent of its annual £30m turnover in export sales by the end of this financial year.
The contract to supply Aldi, follows similar export deals made by Seabrook with Lulu Hypermarket in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); Monoprix in France and French retailer Carrefour in Spain, after gaining strategic export development advice from overseas trade specialist Chamber International.
Aldi has built up a chain of 470 stores in Australia after opening its first in 2001.
Bradford-based Seabrook started planning to export in 2015 after LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, acquired the company for £35m.
Marketing and international sales director Kevin Butterworth said: “Successful exporting requires long-term commitment.
“Securing the latest retail deal with Aldi in Australia keeps us on target to achieve four per cent revenue in exports by April 2018, two years from our first export sale in April 2016, and our medium-term aim to achieve ten per cent export revenue within five years.
“We wanted to export for some time and the private equity deal injected £4m into upgrading our factory, giving us what we needed in terms of increased capacity, flexibility to provide shorter product runs for international markets and to reinforce packaging to extend shelf life from four to 11 months as the export market requires.”
Seabrook was founded in 1945 as a fish and chip shop and acquired its famous brand name when a sign writer misunderstood an instruction to create a sign for C. Brook.
Successful exporting requires long-term commitment. Seabrook marketing and international sales director Kevin Butterworth.