A Perthshire crisp maker is set to double its production capacity with a move to a new £1 million-plus manufacturing site in a derelict former brickworks.
Mackie’s at Taypack is in the process of switching production from its base at Moncur, near Inchture, to the 11-acre former Errol brickworks in the Carse of Gowrie.
The move will allow the firm to increase output from an average of 96,000 bags per shift to around 201,000. The company employs 30 staff and the switch will create some new roles.
However, the workforce is likely to increase more significantly in the medium term if a plan to introduce a second large capacity production line at the new site comes to fruition.
Managing director George Taylor said: “We have outgrown our current shared premises. The site at Moncur is 150,000 sq ft and Mackie’s occupy 25,000 sq ft.
“Where we are going will allow us to double capacity initially and give us scope for the forseeable future.
“We could have continued for another six months but the timing was right as we had identified the site and we wanted to do the building over the summer.
“We are moving our existing line across but we are probably only 18 months away from needing another line.
“Our current fryer does 360kg an hour and with the new fryer we’d be looking at in excess of a tonne an hour that is three times as much.”
The new site has been developed with the support of a “substantial funding package” from Clydesdale Bank’s Business and Private Banking Centre and a publicly funded food processing and marketing grant.
The move to increase production comes just four years after the business was formed as a joint venture between the Taylor family a long established potato grower at Moncur Farm and Aberdeenshire-based luxury ice cream brand Mackie’s of Scotland.
The company quickly gained traction in the market and Mackie’s crisps are now stocked by all major UK supermarkets.
Mr Taylor said the new premises would allow Mackie’s the capacity to grow organically in the long-term while also freeing up space for QV Foods with whom it shares a production site to expand its vegetable packing operations.
Mackie’s at Taypack has been involved in exporting from the outset and sells into more than 20 markets worldwide.
Mr Taylor said the company is now actively seeking out new opportunities and hoped to grow overseas sales over time to around a fifth of the total business.
“The export arena is hugely important,” he said. “We have exported almost from day one but we have really ramped that up in the past six months by attending trade shows some of which have been on the Scottish Development International pavilion and others off our own backs.
“We specifically targeted these shows late last year as we decided these were key areas. It is something we will continue.”
The factory gives new life to the brickworks which closed its doors in 2008.
It is hoped that a visitor centre, cafe and shop will eventually be added to the site.
Clydesdale’s Richard Smith said: “Mackie’s at Taypack is a classic example of a food and drink business that has excelled by offering a high quality product that trades on its Scottish provenance.
“With our support, the company will now be able to target new markets, across the UK and further afield.”