Beacon Foods, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of ingredients and ready-to-eat products, has boosted the sustainability of the business by investing in 1,428 solar PV panels as part of a £6 million expansion programme over the past three years.
Installed by Caplor Energy, the panels will produce up to 500,000 kilowatts of electricity. Beacon Foods will use the majority of the generated electricity within its facilities and potentially export to the National Grid at weekends.
Edward Gough, Beacon Foods chairman, said:
“Against the background of ever-rising energy costs, we believe the investment in the solar panels is a wise move for the company as we prepare for continued business growth.
“Generating our own sustainable energy has got to be good for Beacon Foods, our customers and the environment.”
The company’s £6m investment programme has doubled both the size of its manufacturing and storage facilities – to 53,000 square feet – and its production capacity.
All areas of the factory have been fully renewed or refurbished and incoming electricity supplies have been upgraded to meet future demands.
The increased production capacity has also prompted the company to upgrade its waste water treatment processing plant.
Two new storage tanks, with more than 430 cubic litres capacity, a new aeration system to increase the biological process and new filters that will increase potential discharge capacity to 150 cubic litres per day have been installed.
Beacon Foods, which has 130 employees, was established in 1993. The company supplies food manufacturers, food service, coffee shops, fast food chains and travel and hospitality industries.
Beacon Foods is the UK’s leading specialist producer of garlic, ginger and chili puree, roasted and char grilled vegetables and fruit ranges, relishes, chutneys, sauces and fruit compotes.
The ingredients go into literally thousands of products, including sandwiches, ready meals, pizzas, soups, drinks and desserts, which can be found on supermarket shelves, airlines, restaurant chains and coffee shops.
