Inspired Pet Nutrition invests over £30m in its regional factories
Along with improving existing manufacturing processes, the investment will also see the company upstreaming its supply chain
Yorkshire-based pet food company Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) has announced an investment of over £30m in new technologies designed to significantly expand technical capability, potential product range and capacity at its regional factories.
IPN has invested more than £6m at its wet food facility to more than double its capacity. The company has also invested close to £25m at its Thirsk-based factory to increase its technical
capability, product range and use of fresh ingredients.
Embracing the “latest” technologies and “state-of-the-art” equipment, the company is investing to ensure its portfolio of brands and products are consistently offering the “highest possible quality, taste, and healthy nutrition”.
According to Inspired Pet Nutrition, premiumisation and humanisation are the two trends in the pet food industry that are driving the need for investment. It stated that owners not only want the “highest-quality nutrition for their pets but want to feed them recognizable ingredients and fresh recipes with high meat contents”.
Along with improving existing manufacturing processes, the investment will also see the company upstreaming its supply chain.
It comes just months after Inspired Pet Nutrition celebrated 100 years in business, evolving from a family-founded animal feeds company in 1923 to where it is now, with great grandson
founder James R Page, Richard Page, at the helm as chairman.
IPN acquired Pet Food UK in 2020, expanding its brand portfolio to include Barking Heads,
Meowing Heads and AATU.
It recently announced the achievement of becoming a £200m sales business, with ambitions of exceeding £500m of sales within the next five years.
Anthony Stones, chief operating officer at IPN, said: “This valuable investment represents IPN’s core values in providing accessible, affordable nutrition. We’ve been developing our recipes and portfolio of brands for a century now and are constantly looking for ways to improve our offering for pet parents. By investing in our technical capabilities and upstreaming our supply chain, we have better control over the quality of our recipes and greater traceability of our ingredients.
“Alongside this, we’re increasing the size of our technical team and will have a new laboratory. We’re also investing in real-time testing equipment – and all this means that there’s continuous improvements both to our products and manufacturing processes.
He added: “Our mission has always been to offer the best quality product possible for any given price point to consumers, and this investment represents our desire to constantly improve on this proposition with a sole intention – to keep pets healthy and owners happy.”
