Pickle maker wins Waitrose deal
Preserve maker The Pickled Village has won an order to supply its products to supermarket giant Waitrose. The Bulwick-based company caught the eye of retail buyers after exhibiting at a specialist fine foods trade show.
The Pickled Village, which produces pickles, preserves and chutneys, agreed a deal to supply a range of products to Waitrose branches in Oadby, Lutterworth, Stamford and Peterborough.
Waitrose, which took an interest in the products after they were displayed under the East Midlands Fine Foods banner at a London trade show, said that there were plans “to roll out further products in stores regionally and nationally”.
The order, the company’s first with a major multiple, came less than a year after The Pickled Village founder Camille Ortega McLean expanded by taking on staff for the first time.
McClean said: “Small companies just could not afford to go to shows like Speciality & Fine Food Fair on their own, and that’s where the major buyers go, so we were very grateful for the opportunity to showcase The Pickled Village on the East Midlands Fine Foods stand.”
As a result of the order, the firm is considering increasing capacity by more than doubling working hours.
“We produce 400 jars a day now, but we can increase to 900 a day by going in two shifts,” explained McClean.
Briony Clarke, operations manager at business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum, which runs East Midlands Fine Foods, said: “The aim of East Midlands Fine Foods is to support speciality food and drink producers, and we are delighted to hear about the order won by The Pickled Village after the firm exhibited under our banner at such an important trade fair.
“Our expertise can help producers to make the most of exhibiting at trade and consumer events.”
The Pickled Village, which now employs six people, specialises in producing quirkily-named takes on traditional pickles, preserves, chutneys, relishes and marmalades.
