2 Sisters Food Group has announced that its RF Brookes prepared meals factory in Rogerstone, Newport has created around 180 new jobs following a boost in demand.
Commenting on the expansion, Steve Bowling, site director, said, “In the past six weeks we have seen our volume grow by circa 30%. We have seen our box meals double in sales, creating a fast hike in production, therefore creating the additional jobs.”
The new roles, spread across several departments, include operatives, hopper operatives, machine minders, quality assessors, senior operatives, material controllers, hygiene operatives, plant operatives and an industrial chef.
'Consumer Demand'
Andrew David, head of HR at Rogerstone said: “We have a large number of new roles that have come about as our business continues to grow with consumer demand.
“Following the height of the pandemic, where demand fluctuated, customer orders have now stabilised and as we enter the autumn and winter season, demand for our products will continue to rise."
Two years ago, RF Brookes invested £7 million in a new state-of-the-art vegetable processing facility elsewhere in the UK, the company said.
It is equipped with cooling tunnels, steam-injected kettles for cooking and cooling sauces, new coating systems, and two new automated packing lines.
RF Brookes, a major part of 2 Sisters' prepared meals division, has launched 30 new recipes for the autumn, including among others, roasted butternut squash pasta bake, flaming chicken masala with pilau rice, and mountain cheese bake.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.