The Newbury-based flavour business has seen healthy growth of around 25-45% consequently year-on-year since its inception, evolving from its dining table roots, to small units, to its more recent acquisition of a second site on Abex Road.
When the business first moved into ‘Innovation House’, founder and managing director Mike Bagshaw hadn’t anticipated they would need to expand any further. Now, seven years on and the business has secured a neighbouring building, investing millions into its facelift.
I.T.S’ new site, dubbed ‘Flavour Land‘, features a modern innovation centre as well as customer product development areas, new flavour creation laboratories, flavour sample bays, and dedicated application spaces for bakery, dairy, confectionery and beverages.
The Flavour Foundry is home to manufacturing, technical and customer services, whilst Flavour Land houses innovation, sales and marketing.
During an exclusive visit to the site, Bagshaw told Food Manufacture that around £10 million is being injected into the business over the next 2-3 years.
“We’re about £6 million in so far, with the acquisition of the buildings and the renovation work.”
Some of that investment is going into the extension of the factory, with production capacity set to quadruple for liquid and powder natural flavours.
“It’ll be about six-month project during which time manufacturing will continue as normal, ensuring we continue with industry-best lead times.”
The factory currently operates on one shift (6am-3pm) so the business has plenty of wiggle room for extra capacity if it increases its patterns in the future.
Alongside the factory expansion, the site will also have additional storage and more parking installed, which includes an increased number of electrical charging points. The firm is also looking at solar panels for the roof too as part of its sustainability ambitions.
“That will see us for a few more years and then we have options for other units,” Bagshaw added. “We’ve also got plans to open up an innovation centre warehouse in The Netherlands.”
The main bulk of I.T.S’ non-UK business sits within or near to The Netherlands, with Bagshaw explaining the long-term strategy is to set up sites within each of its markets so that the business can remain agile and understand more of the localised trends.
“I’d love to have one of these [mini innovation centres] in every country that we operate in.”
The flavour house MD explained that he loves the idea of a wide-stretching, decentralised business, with divisions of the company shaped firmly around the culture of its location and the domestic customers’ specific needs.
Whilst cementing its market in The Netherlands is an important step Bagshaw hopes to make in the future, the business already has a strong foothold in The Middle East (especially Dubai and Saudi Arbia) and has just signed an agreement to expand in this region.
Growing the brand identity and vision for the future
Talking strategy, the flavour house MD said it’s about all mindful growth, ensuring that the foundations are solid, and the business as efficient and simple as it can be, with future investment and expansion well considered.
“Simplicity scales: if you simplify it all the time, it’s much easier to grow,” he said, added that one day he’d like I.T.S to be the industry’s most loved flavour supplier but doing it their own way.
“It’s a big ask but I think we can do it.”
As the business has grown, its customer portfolio has expanded too, shifting from SMEs to encompass some really big names; but Bagshaw assured the organisation has kept true to itself as it’s scaled up.
“We haven’t had to change. We’ve been very honest with customers,” he explained, noting that if a client asks I.T.S to do something it’s not good at, it won’t – at least not unless the client wants to come on that ‘discovery journey’ with the firm.
His mantra is that it’s much better to be really good at a few things rather than try to do everything on a mediocre scale.
Bagshaw is an energetic and passionate founder and it’s clear the business has been founded upon that energy, but the ‘braver flavour’, neon pinks and kitsch branding wasn’t always present.
It was I.T.S’s 10th anniversary when the company recognised its ‘Willy Wonka’, brash and bold identity and wrapped a brand around it.
“That was a big step, but it was the best thing we’ve ever done,” Bagshaw recalled.
Adam Cohen, I.T.S marketing manager agreed, adding that despite the emotiveness of flavour, it can be quite a stuffy industry.
“The vision has always been to be fun,” continued Bagshaw. “Food development, food in general, should be fun. A stale scientific company, each their own, but that’s not us.”
This fun ethos is married to a can-do attitude and Bagshaw believes that the company’s proactiveness has been a big part of its growth story.
“My view is by the time we’ve talked about it; we could have done it.”
The business currently has over 30 employees, but looking ahead Bagshaw says they’ll be room for new recruits to join – and it is already actively seeking a new dairy specialist.
“I would be surprised if we were not at 50 staff in the next two years.”