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Kitchen Range

Kitchen Range Foods is part of Moy Park. Moy Park is Northern Ireland's largest food processing company and one of Europe’s leading poultry companies. The company offers a range of chicken products to retail and foodservice customers across Europe. Operations are based in Northern Ireland, England and France employing more than 7,000 people with £700m turnover.
 
Moy Park is today a multi-million pound business operating across several countries having begun life as a modest farming company. Started as Moygashel in 1943, the company had interests in many aspects of farming - dairying, potatoes and egg production being amongst them.
 
In fact, producing chickens for eating was really just an incidental part of egg production. The males of the laying birds were processed and sold to the supermarkets as frozen whole chickens - rather different from today, where the broiler and egg industries are completely separate from one another.
 
By 1960, Moygashel had taken on management and subsequently ownership of the Ulster Farmers Cooperative, including the Moira factory which the Cooperative had owned. In 1961 Moy Park Ltd first saw the light of day, when the company was incorporated as a subsidiary of Moygashel.
 
1963 saw the company commence supply into the GB supermarkets for the first time - the new facilities had enabled it to take on large volume contracts, which the new and fast-growing supermarkets were placing. This was only the start of things to come, and in 1966 a new factory was built on a green field site in Moira, quadrupling capacity.
 
1968, and a new owner - Courtaulds bought the share capital of both Moygashel and Moy Park, and production continued to increase. By 1972, it was over 10 times the figure of the early 1960's. But remember at this time all production was whole chickens only - the array of products offered today had not even been dreamt about then, and a 'table chicken' was still a Sunday treat for most families.
 
Meanwhile, the agriculture side of the business was developing, and a second hatchery for broiler stock was opened in 1973. Over the next two years the Moira factories were further expanded to move into cooked and portioned chilled chicken, and in 1975 the new primary processing plant at Coolhill near Dungannon was opened - the first chicken processing factory in Ireland to be granted an EEC export licence. 
 
In 1980 the acquisition of Kew House Farm from Dalgety gave the company it's first factory in England. But the turning point for Moy Park Limited, and the real start of the Moy Park story, was in 1984, when the company was sold to the directors by Courtaulds. The move in the 1980's away from diversified groups, and the need to respond to the recession of those times by focusing, led to Courtaulds stripping out what were to them non-core businesses.
 
The new owners wasted no time in moving into what is now the company's headquarters and major manufacturing site at Craigavon - the business area of Portadown and Lurgan. Rapid and extensive investment was made in the site, including complete refurbishment in 1990. This was the start of the company's very rapid growth in the burgeoning convenience foods market - products that we take for granted today were very new then, and were eagerly adopted by families who appreciated the time saved by good quality, good value products which were quick and easy to cook.


 
Developments continued apace - joint ventures with Bourgoin in France (1991), Ferne Foods (1994); a new state-of-the-art parent stock hatchery at Carn; and a new cold store, also at Carn, consolidated the group's position. Sales to the GB supermarkets had grown as the supermarkets had become the nation's grocers, and to meet their needs a commercial office at Crewe had become the sales and marketing nerve centre of the company. In 1996 Moy Park became part of the OSI group of companies and since then the relationship has yielded many synergies across a number of global boundaries.
 
Investment was not restricted to bricks and mortar - Investors In People Awards were gained by most sites in the group throughout the 90's. The position in France was consolidated with the acquisition of the former Cuisine de Licques plant in Marquise, offering state-of-the-art technology for the manufacture of sandwich meat. In 1998 the joint venture with Bourgoin was bought out giving Moy Park sole ownership of the site at Henin Beaumont near Lille. The following year the Coolhill plant was refurbished and expanded, making it the most modern site in Europe and in 2000, the remainder of the Ferne Foods operation was acquired.
 
The company’s development took a strategic jump forward in 2004 when it led the acquisition of two English based businesses. Dove Valley and GW Padley Poultry have now been fully integrated into Moy Park Ltd.
 
2006 saw the business take on more group responsibility, bringing Kitchen Range Foods and AvZ under its wing.
 
Today the company continues to grow and enter new markets - as convenience foods become not so much a luxury, more a way of life, it continually strives to invent great tasting products that people will enjoy and will want to buy.
 
Moy Park (through OSI) acquired Padleys (£400Million turnover) in May 2004. This made Moy Park a leading force with in excess of £850Million turnover and 7,000 employees across the UK and Ireland. This partnership delivers greater opportunity to Moy Park in the UK to maximise production efficiency and increase profitability.
 
In September 2008 The Marfrig Group acquired Moy Park from OSI group in a cash and share purchase agreement which does see OSI retain some ownership in Marfrig group.
 
Marfrig was started in 1986 by its current chairman and major shareholder, Marcos Antonio Molina dos Santos. He began by selling beef to restaurants and retailers in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Marfrig Group as it stands today was started in 2000 – fully named Marfrig Frigorificos e Comérco de Alimentos SA. Marfrig Group’s current main activities are red meat – it is the 4th largest beef processor worldwide with a daily throughput of nearly 13,000 cattle through 18 abattoirs and 13 processing plants. There are also 3 lamb and 4 pig abattoirs and tanneries, these are located in major grazing and rearing regions of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
Kitchen Range Foods
Huntingdon and Peterborough Sites
 
Innovation, quality, added value and professional service are the hallmarks at Kitchen Range Foods. Here you will find advanced food technology and highly skilled people dedicated to developing close relationships and constantly exceeding expectations.
 
Kitchen Range Foods have created award winning frozen foods for over three decades, which are easy to prepare and enjoyable to eat. Convenience and quality are at the heart of everything they do, from the development kitchens through to their distribution systems.
 
Kitchen Range Foods is a trusted and recognised brand which offers a wide and diverse range of products including; appetisers and finger foods – from battered whole natural onion rings to breaded fresh mushrooms; meat-free starters and centre plates – from spicy bean burgers to creamy risotto filled red peppers; and delicious desserts and sweet snacks – from mini chocolate topped donuts to morello cherry pies.
 
Kitchen Range has become a major force within the frozen food industry and employs over 200 people across 2 UK sites.

“

Darren and Silver Stone, really work to understand clients needs, and use their creativeness and expertise to provide effective solutions. Darren is a consultant with high integrity and professionalism and confidentiality who really empathises with his clients

”
Adrian Hodgson, HR Director, Cannon Hygiene