Meat substitute company Quorn has announced plans to create 300 new jobs and invest £150 million in the UK, despite Brexit uncertainty.
The meat-free brand has seen a growth in sales over the past year, with UK sales growing 15 percent in the first half 2017, whilst global sales rose by 19 percent.
Chief executive Kevin Brennan said that despite the investment, the company was wary of the current Brexit negotiations.
“Hard Brexit tariffs would not be great for us, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
“We are running a company where we believe we can quadruple the business to one billion US dollars. Europe plays a part in that but it isn’t essential to achieving that.” he continued.
“The UK business is still a business with incredibly strong growth. The US is a business with enormous scale potential to us, alongside Australia and Asia.
“We are still taking a positive view on commercial investment in Europe. We continue to invest significantly into Germany, Italy and the Nordics.
“But equally we know that our category is growing everywhere in the world that if Europe gets less attractive, we can divert our growth to other places.” he added.
Brennan acknowledged how the rise of the “flexitarian” diet had helped boom sales for the company.
“We are proud to be contributing to the UK’s export drive and to be investing in a British innovation that is vital to addressing the future need for protein across a growing global population,”
Quorn, made from fungus, is sold on its own for use in recipes or are available in ready meals and food that mimics items such as sausages.
The company was bought by Exponent Private Equity (NASDAQ:EXPO) and Intermediate Capital Group (LON:ICP) from Bisto maker Premier Foods 2011, before it was sold to Philippine food giant Monde Nissin four years later.