Wild Bird Care & Pet Food specialist WHM Pet Group, best known for their brands Marriage’s and Honeyfield’s, have added new capabilities to their UK manufacturing in the past 12 months, following strong sales results in 2020.

Capital investment from WHM Pet Group into their Driby site in Lincolnshire will now see their brands and product ranges set up well for further growth in 2021 and beyond.

In the height of the season during 2020, many pet food manufacturers were having problems with cost and shortages of raw materials, yet WHM Pet Group were able to accommodate increased demand and help these manufacturers and retailers out during this challenging time for the market. This was due to WHM Pet Group supply chain expertise but also because of continuous investment in UK based manufacturing. WHM Pet Group have invested £5m in their manufacturing site in Driby since 2012, which has seen it develop into one of the UK’s most advanced wild bird food manufacturing plants, with 110sqft of storage and racking. 

In the last 12 months, £2m in capital investments has produced end of line robotics (which has increased tonnage produced per hour), automation and high-speed packing machines. This has all helped contribute to improved manufacturing levels, increased capacity to cope with increased market demand and allowed better quality packs and new formats. This has also helped achieve year on year growth of 31%, to achieve £36m sales turnover. Through this growth and operational efficiencies, this has allowed more investment into the quality of NPD and technical functions. 

Moving into the 2022 season, WHM Pet Group are set to transform the market with the launch of their brand-new packaging for their Honeyfield’s brand. The ground-breaking packaging is 100% Recycled, 100% Recyclable and 100% Biodegradable.