Business

Newry bakery Sweet Things trebles sales as turnover rises to £1.5m

Pictured at Sweet Things Badass Bakery in Newry is Steve Fogo, general manager. Sweet Things has trebled its sales over the past year, growing turnover beyond £1.5m
Pictured at Sweet Things Badass Bakery in Newry is Steve Fogo, general manager. Sweet Things has trebled its sales over the past year, growing turnover beyond £1.5m Pictured at Sweet Things Badass Bakery in Newry is Steve Fogo, general manager. Sweet Things has trebled its sales over the past year, growing turnover beyond £1.5m

A NEWRY-based bakery has trebled its sales over the 12 months beyond £1.5 million and foresees further growth in the year ahead.

Sweet Things bakery, which was acquired by leading ‘food-to-go’ manufacturer Around Noon in 2016, has grown its workforce from two to 13 in the past year and is currently recruiting for a further two staff in the form of an innovation baker and a bakery supervisor.

Originally established in Dublin in 2009 by Ciara Byrne, now company commercial director, and her partner, Ian Fowler, Sweet Things began selling at farmers’ markets before being spotted and eventually bought by Around Noon.

The artisan producer supplies a number of well-known high street retailers and independent stores in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Now based at Around Noon’s Newry headquarters, Sweet Things supplies many of Around Noon’s existing customers, as well as other businesses.

Around CEO, Gareth Chambers said he is delighted with the "rapid growth" of the business over the past two years.

"After acquiring the business, we invested significantly in branding and marketing, as well as in new premises for the businesses. We’ve positioned it as a bakery that offers a bit of a ‘rock and roll’ take on bakery, and we did things like add the strapline ‘bad-ass bakery’.”

“It has been a strategic acquisition for us that really complements our existing offering. Our customers spend in excess of £10million annually on bakery items, so there is real demand for the kind of products that we offer through Sweet Things."

Around Noon makes innovative, handheld food and counts some of the largest coffee shop chains, convenience retailers and forecourt retailers in the UK and Ireland as clients. Founded in 1989 the company has experienced significant growth in recent years, adding a London manufacturing base to its existing headquarters in Newry, as well as acquiring Sweet Things.

The Newry firm now employs almost 300 people and manufacturers upwards of 60,000 products per day across more than 20 major brands, including hand-made sandwiches, wraps, salads, snacks, bakery items and 100 percent natural juices.

The award-winning company was also in the Sunday Times Fast-track 100 listing of the fastest growing businesses in the UK.