Scots baker Bells targets export market after doubling pastry capacity

By Vince Bamford

- Last updated on GMT

Bells Food Group MD Ronnie Miles and the new pastry kit at the firm's Shotts factory
Bells Food Group MD Ronnie Miles and the new pastry kit at the firm's Shotts factory

Related tags Pastry

Scottish pastry and pie manufacturer Bells Food Group has set its sights on high-volume contracts in the UK and overseas after completing the first stage in a £3.6m ($4.7m) factory investment.

Bells, which supplies the wholesale and retail markets, has extended its capacity from 60 tons of pastry a week to 140 tons with the £2.1m ($2.8m) spend.

The move - which has created an additional 25 jobs at the business’s factory in Shotts, near Edinburgh – has included the installation of a new pastry laminator and spiral freezer.

Family business Bells, which was established in 1931, employs more than 200 people across three sites. Its current turnover is around £16m ($21m) a year.

Bells said it will now be able to compete for high-volume, commercial pastry business across the UK and Ireland, and also target the export market.

We have a range of food manufacturing businesses on our radar that we would like to work with, supplying pastry for sweet and savory pies, en-croute products and having the capability to alter our pastry products to suit​,” said Bells managing director Ronnie Miles, adding that discussions with potential customers are currently under way.

Brand development program

The capacity expansion is part of a wider brand development program that includes new product development and packaging across the Bells pie range. The brand has also secured additional national listings for its pies with UK supermarket chain Asda.

Bells’ pastry is manufactured using the traditional Scotch Method or French Method, and the product range includes puff and shortcrust pastry bases, lids, blocks, rolls and lattice-cut shapes.

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