Wild bird care and pet food specialist WHM Pet Group, best known for its Marriage’s and Honeyfield’s brands, has added new capabilities to its UK manufacturing in the past 12 months, following strong sales results in 2020.
Capital investment from WHM into the Driby site in Lincolnshire will see its brands and product ranges set fair for further growth this year and beyond.
During lockdown, sales of wild bird care products grew, with more consumers being at home to enjoy garden birds. The Horticulture Trade Association’s consumer tracking showed that more than two million extra people were feeding and encouraging wildlife to their outdoor spaces. It was also at this time that WHM continued to give seasoned and beginner wild bird lovers tips on social media channels with its popular educational series, ‘Bird Bites’ from the Honeyfield’s brand.
DEMAND
In the height of the season, when many pet food manufacturers were having problems with cost and shortages of raw materials, WHM was able to accommodate increased demand and help manufacturers and retailers out.
This was due to Marriage’s supply chain expertise but also because of continuous investment in UK-based manufacturing the group says. Marriage’s has invested £5m in its manufacturing site in Driby since 2012, seeing it develop into one of the UK’s most advanced wild bird food manufacturing plants.
In the last 12 months, £2m in capital investments has produced end-of-line robotics (which has increased tonnage produced per hour), automation and high-speed packing machines. This has all helped contribute to improved manufacturing levels and increased capacity to cope with greater market demand, and allowed better quality packs and new formats.
WHM Pet Group now employs 101 people to support customers, including a wider sales team that covers all areas of the UK, which has helped the group to achieve year-on-year growth of 31%, taking sales turnover to £36m.
GROWTH
This growth together with operational efficiencies has allowed more investment into the quality of NPD and technical functions. According to the Pet Food Manufacturers Association (2021) report, bird foods such as peanuts and fat balls increased by nearly 20% in 2020 – which means that Marriage’s was able to grow with the market and exceed market growth in areas.
All of WHM’s brands have benefited from this investment, but especially wild bird brand Honeyfield’s, with the introduction of a refreshed suet offering and new manufacturing plant at Driby this year. Previously outsourced, Honeyfield’s now produces suet pellets and suet blocks in-house and has experienced positive results since the re-launch of this range.
The new developments mean that Honeyfield’s can constantly innovate, test and create new products in-house, the group says.
A spokesman said: “WHM Pet Group’s impressive capabilities and ambitious approach to company operations has meant they are going from strength to strength in the pet food and wild bird care market.
“Retailers can rest assured that they will be looked after in times of extreme demand and supplied with quality products from experts in the pet market.”
