Metcalfe's Food Company

Metcalfe's Food Company
Private
Industry Retail
Founded 2009
Headquarters London, England
Key people
 Julian Metcalfe, Founder
Robert Jakobi, Managing Director
Products Snack foods
Website http://www.metcalfesfood.com

Metcalfe’s Food Company is a privately owned food business set up in 2009 by Julian Metcalfe, the founder of the sandwich chain Pret A Manger. Metcalfe’s Food Company has a turnover of £10 million and sells products under two brands, Metcalfe’s Skinny and Itsu Grocery.[1] The Metcalfe’s Skinny range is all corn-based whilst the Grocery range is predominantly Asian inspired.

The business has grown from £300,000 in turnover in 2010 to £10 Million as of May 2014. The company has been forecast to achieve a turnover of £50 Million by 2017.[2]

Metcalfe's Skinny

The Metcalfe's Skinny brand was established in 2009,[1] when Metcalfe wanted to launch a range of products that could compete with potato crisps in the market for snack foods.[3]

There are eleven different products in the range, including Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn, which was the bestselling pre-cooked popcorn brand in the UK in 2013.[4] The product is available in sea salt, sweet 'n salt, cinnamon, chocolate crackle, heat 'n sweet and wasabi flavours.

It was announced in February 2013 that the product would be the official UK partner of the Twilight Breaking Dawn – Part 2 DVD release.[5] 100,000 bags of promotionally branded Skinny Topcorn were released alongside the DVD on 11 March 2013.[6] In January 2014, Metcalfe's Food Company announced a three-year partnership in support of UK cancer charity CLIC Sargent[7]

Corn'ers tortilla chips were added to the range in October 2013,[8] The Independent rated Corn'ers as number two on their top 10 best low-fat snacks in December[9] and milk and dark chocolate-covered mini corncakes in 2014.[10]

Itsu Grocery

Metcalfe's Food Company launched Itsu into retail in June 2011 and into Sainsbury's and Waitrose in March 2012 under the brand name Itsu Grocery.[11] As of December 2013 there were 16 different products in the Itsu Grocery range. The product portfolio includes soups and noodles, snacks, sauces and drinks.[12]

Like the Metcalfe’s Skinny range, the Itsu Grocery range is stocked in Itsu shops and select supermarket outlets across the UK.[1] They can also be bought online from www.itsugrocery.com.[12]

Key people

Robert Jakobi is the Managing Director of Metcalfe’s Food Company and has played a key role in the evolution of the business.[1] Previously, an investment banker, Jakobi introduced chocolate covered edamame to the UK market in 2010 and sold them initially under his own ‘Pod bites’ brand in high-end stores such as Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.[13] Convinced they had a lively commercial future, he sought a bigger platform for the product and after meeting Julian Metcalfe, and was installed as Managing Director for Metcalfe’s Food Company in October 2010.[1] The chocolate covered edamame were one of the key products in the Itsu Grocery range.[1]

Awards

In December 2013, Metcalfe's Food Company were featured as one of ten ‘Ones to Watch’ in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.[14]

In April 2014, Julian Metcalfe and Robert Jakobi were named as London & South finalists for the 2014 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[15]

In May 2014, Metcalfe’s Food Company were announced as one of the winners of The Santander Breakthrough 50 Awards. The awards celebrate the UK’s top 50 most exciting fast-growth companies.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jonathan Moules, "Itsu founder nurtures a new generation", "The Financial Times", 21 January 2014
  2. ↑ Anna White, "Popcorn maker tastes explosive growth", "The Telegraph", 24 February 2014
  3. ↑ "The Gourmet Popcorn Explosion". Daily Standard. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Sunday Interview: Pret A Manger founder Julian Metcalfe", "The Telegraph", 21 September 2013
  5. ↑ Vince Bamford, "Metcalfe gives Skinny Topcorn fresh pushes and new flavours", "The Grocer", 2 March 2013
  6. ↑ "Metcalfe's skinny topcorn partners with Twilight for DVD release". Talking Retail. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Thanks for supporting CLIC Sargent", "CLIC Sargent", January 2014
  8. ↑ Vince Bamford, "Metcalfe's expands into tortilla snacks", "The Grocer", 26 October 2013
  9. ↑ Daisy Wyatt, "The 10 best low-fat snacks", "The Independent", 31 December 2013
  10. ↑ Lisa Riley, "Metcalfe's rolls Skinny Corncakes healthy snacks into Sainsbury's", "The Grocer", 2 February 2014
  11. ↑ Vince Bamford, "Itsu to target retailers with new Asian snacks", "The Grocer", 4 June 2011
  12. 1 2 "itsu products". itsu grocery. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  13. ↑ Sri Carmichael, "Cinema-goers snap up snack beans", "London Evening Standard", 18 March 2010
  14. ↑ "Fast Tracks Ones to Watch", "The Sunday Times", December 2013
  15. ↑ "Dynamic London and South entrepreneurs create 24,000 jobs and turn over £4.6 million", 24 April 2014
  16. ↑ "Metcalfe's Food Company | SMARTA | Breakthrough 50 Awards",

External links

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