Green Saffron signs €500k investment deal

Irish spice company Green Saffron has secured investment worth €500,000 to expand into new markets including the UK, mainland Europe, the US and India.

The Cork-based company signed an investment deal with Marc Amand of La Rousse Foods and Enterprise Ireland to take the Green Saffron the brand to the UK within 12 months, and then on to mainland Europe, India and the US.

The expansion plan will see Green Saffron’s Irish workforce grow by 80 per cent by the end of next year. The company currently employs nine staff full time.

“The investment funds are being put straight to work, focusing on three main areas: supply activation, strengthening group infrastructure and funding promotional activity. We’ll be developing our unit in Midleton into a centre of excellence for spice innovation,” said Green Saffron founder Arun Kapil.

He said the centre would allow the company to produce large-volume milled blends at the same time as providing a laboratory for experimentation and research. The facility will have the capacity to produce 2.5 tonnes of spice blend per week.

Green Saffron’s products are available in more than 225 stores including Tesco, SuperValu, Dunnes Stores, Avoca, Donnybrook Fair and Selfridges in London.

The expansion will see its dry spice packets and sauce products stocked in about 600 stores by next year.

Last year, the spice company won a Sial d’Or award (highest international award for food innovation/production) for Ireland. Turnover was €600,000 last year with an annual increase of 50 per cent projected year on year.