The Welsh business based in Brecon has reappointed Jas Singh as its operations director, following his departure during the 2020 pandemic.
Singh originally joined the company 25 years ago as a shop floor worker and over the course of 9 years progressed to operations manager before seeking a new challenge with Unilever.
He returned to Beacon Foods for 7 years as head of operations and worked on expansion plans but opted for redundancy in 2020, moving his work closer to his Ebbw Vale home. During this time, he held various production roles at Hovis, Avara Foods, Finsbury Food Group, and most recently, Euro Foods Group.
Singh begins his third spell at the business at a pivotal time, with Beacon Foods having invested more than £6 million in a three-year expansion programme. He says he hopes to remain at a business he ‘knows so well’ until he retires.
“When I last worked for the company, we were planning expansion which has now happened under the guidance of chairman, Edward Gough. The business has grown to what we originally envisaged and Edward was very proud to show me what had been achieved,” reflected Singh.
“With the extra capacity that we have in the factory, the business is in a great position to drive forward. We knew where the growth points were before the pandemic and now the plan has come to fruition and there is a lot of scope for development.
“We are still processing vegetables, but we are doing them in so many different formats and so many different processes, and can supply even more customer bases.
“Edward has invested heavily in the factory over the last four years and, in the last six months, has made another £1.5 million investment in two cooking kettles, a bowl chopper and a sachet line to increase production capacity. It’s an exciting time for volume, growth and efficiency.
“We are also looking at ways to automate more but we will never be fully automated because we need to be flexible to meet the needs of our big customer base.
“There is real cohesion throughout the business, with everyone working together for the same goal. It’s an exciting time to be here, with customers coming to us for products because they know that we offer first class customer service with high quality bespoke ingredients.”
Beacon Foods’ portfolio includes original garlic, ginger and chili purees, chilled or IQF roasted vegetables, and kettle cooked sauces packed in bulk, individual portion dip pots or sachets; with its ingredients going into thousands of products, including sandwiches, ready meals, pizzas, soups, drinks and desserts.
