Pork giant Pilgrim’s UK has followed its November acquisition of lamb supplier Randall Parker Foods with the creation of new division: Pilgrim’s UK Lamb.
The operation marked its latest step “to reinvent the lamb category in the UK” following the purchase of RPF and its manufacturing sites in Llanidloes, Powys and Andover, Hampshire, it said. All 350 of RPF’s employees joined the JBS-owned pork supplier as part of the deal.
Pilgrim’s said the launch of PUKL – at the recent Royal Welsh Show – connected a “country-wide lamb supply chain, bringing farmers and customers closer together and allowing for innovations to be easily shared”.
It will offer premium Welsh lamb and lamb products sourced from other parts of the UK.
The division will be headed by ex RPF MD Jim Gaffney and forms part of the Pilgrim’s UK fresh business unit that is headed by MD Lee Rampling.
“A huge amount of work has gone into integrating the RPF sites into the wider Pilgrim’s UK organisation and it is a testament to the RPF teams’ passion and commitment that the project has gone so well,” said Rampling.
“The move brings our lamb operations into a single integrated supply chain which will benefit team members and customers alike.”
Gaffney said: “We will continue to produce the high-quality lamb we are known for, while leveraging the expertise and passion for food that exists across the Pilgrim’s UK business to help us reach new customers and markets.”
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