Eat Natural in vertical integration move

Snack bar maker Eat Natural is taking control of its operation further up the supply chain with the creation of a new fruit and nut cleaning and sorting facility near its Halstead factory.

The a 465metres-squared fruit and nut 'Spa' is part of a multi-million pound investment to integrate and co-ordinate all of Eat Natural's purchasing and manufacturing operations in-house, giving owners greater control over the quality and consistency of its ingredients.

Preet Grewal, co-founder of Eat Natural, said: “We are continually looking at ways of not only maintaining a consistent supply of top quality ingredients but equally monitoring the integrity of this supply once sourced, at different stages of our field to bar process.

“The opening of this new facility will enable us to take even greater care and attention in every aspect of the cleaning, sorting and roasting of our ingredients. When you make a snack bar that has only six or eight main fruit and nut ingredients in it, every single ingredient plays a huge part in delivering overall taste and has to be at its very best when going into our bars.”

By cutting out the middle man, the new facility would also help reduce food miles caused by the transportation of ingredients between Eat Natural and third parties, he added.

All loose ingredients will pass through a filter that filters any ingredients based on weight, then through an electronic eye examination that will check every loose ingredient from 360 degrees, followed by a detailed visual inspection by a team of 'checkers', he said. Finally the whole nuts will pass through a roaster to bring out their sweetness.

The UK's fastest growing snack bar, the Eat Natural brand is worth £21M at retail value.