Green Rock Group has said it plans to recruit 50 staff over the next 12 months following the launch of its new sister brand offering food-to-go packaging products. The fully-recyclable paper cups and lids provider currently employs 55 staff at its site in Wrexham, which it opened in September last year following a seven-figure investment.
The firm supplies its cups to Premiership football clubs, major breweries, arenas and festivals across the UK. It is now looking to take on more staff after launching new sister brand, Green Rock Catering Supplies, last month to offer sustainable catering products to the food-to-go market.
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Green Rock Group managing director Steve Granville said: "We're already seeing a huge take up, particularly for the cutlery because plastic cutlery is being banned. Wooden cutlery is awful and it feels terrible in your mouth. In contrast our paper cutlery is superb and you can cut through a steak with our knife."
The firm is now eyeing the takeaway market in the UK to supply its new products. Mr Granville said: “The Chinese takeaway market is huge in the UK and we want to replace all the foil and plastic containers with our products. We’re also targeting other sectors of the food-to-go market and we have just launched a new espresso cup and a range of cups for vending machines. The word is getting out and now we are getting calls out of the blue from people who realise they need our products.”
Green Rock Group is backed by UK-based Chinese businessmen, Charles Gao, Alex Xu and Jay Liu, who own a chain of restaurants and Bubble Tea shops in the UK.
Mr Gao, who is a director at Green Rock Group, said: “At the moment Europe imports 90 per cent of its food packaging from Turkey and China but now we can make everything in the UK, providing the customer with products with a short lead time. The infrastructure in Wrexham is second to none. We’ve got Wrexham Industrial Estate on our doorstep so the support services are superb – whether it’s engineering, fabrication, forklifts or air compressors.
“Logistically, it’s a great place to be because of the excellent transport links while we can also tap into a brilliant skill base here. The potential is huge.”
Now the company says it has the capacity to make 2 billion recyclable plastic-free cups a year.
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