Birmingham based Boparan to inject £100m into Bernard Matthews to revolutionise British turkey production

A Birmingham based investment company, which owns the iconic Bernard Matthews turkey brand, has announced a £100 million investment in British turkey to meet increased consumer demand for healthier protein.

Bernard Matthews’ main site in Halesworth, Suffolk, which processes around 100,000 turkeys a week, will be at the forefront of the investment by Boparan Private Office which is owned by billionaire businessman Ranjit Singh, owner of Birmingham-based 2 Sisters Food Group.

The investment will include general building improvements, new amenities for the 700 staff based at the site, a new lairage, new processing and refrigeration equipment and the introduction of advanced digital tools and robotics.

As well as enabling Bernard Matthews to improve animal welfare, the investment will help to develop new innovative high protein products, including Gochujang Turkey Strips and Moroccan Style Turkey Koftas, which will join the 64 all-year-round turkey products, like mince, meatballs and drumsticks already produced by Bernard Matthews at its Halesworth and Sunderland sites.

As a high protein, lower fat and lower calorie meal option, turkey meets the needs of health-conscious Brits at a time when demand for healthier protein is at an all-time high.

Boparan sees big opportunities to grow the market through its traditional retail customers and Bernard Matthews aims to draw on the experience of leading German turkey producer, Heidemark Group, which was acquired in February by Boparan Private Office.

Turkey is already an everyday protein eaten regularly in many forms by Germans and Heidemark are leaders in productivity, process automation and product innovation in the European poultry industry.

Ranjit Singh, president and founder of Boparan Private Office, which is based in Bickenhill Lane, said: “We are about to ramp up turkey production for the traditional British Christmas, but looking beyond the festive spike, we also see big opportunities to offer this healthy, low fat, high protein alternative all year round, in a much bigger and more exciting way than anybody is doing right now.

“We’ll learn from our new European partners and work to create new opportunities for British turkey farmers and exciting new turkey products for our customers.

“This £100m investment in our turkey business will drive innovation, improve animal welfare and create a healthier and more sustainable British food supply chain – a key aim of our £2bn NextGen strategy.

“We intend to show that turkey is definitely not just for Christmas.”