Quorn Foods to expand facility in Billingham, UK

Quorn Foods, a UK-based producer of Quorn meat substitute, plans to invest around £30m at its facility in Billingham, in order to cater to the increased demand for its products.

The investment over the next 18 months will be used to build a third fermenter at the plant, which will increase production at the site by 50%.

The project will create around 400 new jobs – 100 jobs during construction and 300 in the facility and at its suppliers in Yorkshire and the north-east.

Quorn Foods chief executive Kevin Brennan said that Quorn is now well established as a global brand, with its products sold in an ever-growing number of countries.

"As people are rethinking their meat eating habits and realising that 500 meals a year with meat is too much for our health and the planet, demand for our products has soared and we’re now in a position where we need to expand our production facilities," Brennan added.

Quorn, a leading brand of faux meat mycoprotein in the UK, uses the extract from the fungus Fusarium venenatum to create its products.

To help reframe the brand as a healthy protein, the company has made various strategic investments, including £15m in global marketing for the year 2014.

Quorn turnover has soared across the group from £131m in 2012 to £140.9m last year, indicating a rise of 7%, while its operating profit increased by £500,000 to £11.3m.

The company, which employs more than 600 people at Stokesley and 54 at its Billingham facility, exports its product to 13 countries, including Australia and the US.