50% growth in year-on-year sales of Flexeserve Zone® food-to-go heated display units

Hinckley-based manufacturer, Flexeserve®, a brand of The Alan Nuttall Partnership, has seen strong growth in demand for its range of unique heated display units, Flexeserve Zone®.

Recently published financial results for The Alan Nuttall Partnership show significant progress in the company’s overall performance. A major contributor to this was the 50% growth in year-on-year sales of Flexeserve Zone® heated display units, increasing from £8m to £12m in 2019.

The UK food-to-go market is already extremely well-established, with consistent growth during recent years. Flexeserve® is also beginning to establish strong brand recognition outside of the UK and, with the international consumer appetite for food-to-go ever-increasing, there is significant opportunity for growth.

Flexeserve® has transformed its production facility

Demand has required Flexeserve® to significantly increase its rate of production – more than double, in fact. To achieve this, the manufacturer has transformed its production facility and introduced LEAN manufacturing principles. The combined effect has maximised efficiencies, improved quality, and reduced waste.

Flexeserve production facility assembling heated display units

As the industry-leading hot-holding unit, Flexeserve Zone® has established a strong foothold in some of the UK’s largest and most high-profile retailers, including Greggs, Pret, ASDA, M&S and Sainsburys, as well as many international brands. Flexeserve® enables them to display and hot-hold an ever-expanding variety of high-quality food-to-go without compromising appearance, taste or texture.

The Flexeserve® Solution differentiates their products within the marketplace

To achieve this, Flexeserve® provides an extensive service from its Foodservice Innovation Centre, which encompasses all the key aspects of a successful hot food-to-go operation. Customers can use its facilities to fine-tune their menus and maximise the shelf life of their products. The Flexeserve® Solution includes, amongst other things, comprehensive menu development and packaging optimisation services, enabling the globally patented units to keep food in a fresh state.

CEO of Flexeserve®, Jamie Joyce, attributes their success to this unique approach. “Although we’re foodservice equipment manufacturers, we pride ourselves on being so much more,” he says.

“Whilst competitors focus on the selling of equipment, Flexeserve® provides foodservice solutions. Our team of experts advises customers on menu development, recipe, cook method, packaging optimisation and temperature regimes, enabling them to deliver the best possible product to the consumer.”

This all-encompassing service, that’s wrapped around their hot-holding units, further differentiates Flexeserve® within the industry and enables it to attract and engage, not just with customers in the UK, but with international markets globally.

Flexeserve® has focused on expanding business strategically

The growth in international export for Flexeserve® products has contributed significantly to the overall increase in revenue. Growth has been exponential since 2018, when export sales totalled £800,000. In 2019, this figure grew to £1.2m and, this year, export sales are expected to surpass £5m – 4 times that of the previous year.

This growth in export sales has been made possible by the company’s strategic focus on expanding business, internationally – which was punctuated most recently by its display at EuroShop 2020 – the largest retail exhibition in the world.

One of the priorities for export growth has been the expansion of the Flexeserve® portfolio of international distributors, which has doubled in one year. The company partners with distributors that can replicate its highly successful model in the UK, of supporting customers with the full Flexeserve® Solution. This approach will provide a major springboard for generating significant future orders from sizeable international businesses.

Working alongside a local creative marketing agency has also been a considerable benefit to the company’s overall sales and marketing strategy – proving fundamental in driving global sales growth.

Jamie Joyce concludes: “The outlook for Flexeserve® in 2020 is very positive, with significant committed orders and new notable, international customers.

“Global attitudes towards food are changing rapidly and creating new domestic and international opportunities for Flexeserve®. Recognising the growth in consumer demand for high-quality, hot food-to-go options across all day parts – breakfast, lunch, dinner and anything in between – is incredibly important. Flexeserve Zone® is the only heated display unit capable of delivering a high-quality, versatile solution to meet this demand.”