September 2010 Newsletter

Integrated Food Projects have been appointed as Project Managers to deliver the expansion and re-development of Solanum Limited's, Sutton Bridge processing and packaging facility.  Solanum receives, conditions, grades, washes and packs potatoes for Waitrose and The Co-operative.

Solanum Ltd are part of the Produce World Group who manage fresh produce supply chains for selected partners in retail and the food service industries.

The existing site is being extended to incorporate an improved potato conditioning facility and expanded packing operations as well as a number of internal upgrades and re-organisation to improve grading and washing efficiencies.

Existing cold storage and conditioning of finished product is being improved and expanded, along with improvements to the working environments for Solanum's personnel, improved and enlarged production offices, a new taste profile centre along with general improvements to their site wide services infrastructure.

The new conditioning store enables the accurate control of temperature and humidity to reduce product wastage and incorporates highly efficient 'green energy' sources.

The project will be fully completed in the Autumn of 2010, with phased delivery of the improvements coming on line during the summer months.

IFP has structured the contract works to be carried out under a Management Contract arrangement, which enabled early contractor involvement and a team approach to achieve best value for Solanum on a fast track delivery programme.

Darren Mortimer, Operations Director Solanum Ltd said

"Project Maximus is a complex project with a number of significant challenges, and like any other large project it is vital to get the key decisions correct. Engaging Integrated Food Projects to help us deliver Maximus has proven to have been the best decision we made. From Initial project planning through to project execution Integrated Food Projects have been professional and extremely competent. Where Integrated Food Projects have set themselves apart is in the manner with which their people have integrated themeselves and the principle contractors in to our site teams. This has served to engender a culture where all challenges can be overcome; without allowing either timescale or budget to slip"

As part of its expansion programme, Integrated Food Projects has engaged Lee Harris as Project Manager to increase its expertise and knowledge base in process design and equipment procurement.

Lee joins Integrated Food Projects with over 24 years experience within Food Engineering. Over the last 7 years Lee has carried out a variety of Project Management roles within the food industry. His involvement in both small and large scale projects in the UK and overseas for Tulip Foods, Flo-Mech (specialists in potato processing), PepsiCo and United Biscuits has given him an extensive knowledge of processing methods and the global equipment market. Lee has joined Integrated Food Projects from Uniq Prepared Foods where he has gained extensive knowledge and experience of sandwich manufacturing and the Marks and Spencer supplier code of practice.