News Review
Big Booker Deal Boosts Paragon
In a multi million pound deal, Booker Cash & Carry has listed a selection of fast food products from fast expanding Paragon Quality Foods.
The products will be available through all 172 Booker depots and the selection includes Wholebeef, Texan and American-seasoned burgers plus their Ali-Baba branded Halal alternatives, together with the company’s Turkish, Classic and Anatolian Doner Kebabs.
The hand-raised doners are shrink-wrapped before being frozen and boxed to deliver good hygiene, ease of handling in store and distribution. The packaging enhances both brand awareness and visual impact.
Sizes available in boxes are from 10-35 kg.
“We secured this contract after exhaustive quality tests against competitive products and Booker customers will welcome our prices as well as the quality,” said Paragon managing director, Metin Pekin.
“We are now working with Booker on a series of regional exhibitions so potential customers can familiarise themselves with out quality, prices and flavour profiles,” he added.
As a high quality, low cost processor, Paragon has bucked the trend amongst manufacturers of fast food products over the last 18 months.
Whilst others were closing down or cutting back Paragon reported a 50% sales uplift in the year to February 2006 and in doing so broke through the £7m. sales barrier.
In that period Paragon funded the £100,000 plus installation of a third Formax burger machine, production line and peripherals to enable it to more efficiently meet orders and more quickly switch between recipes.
Over the same period it installed new lines for the production of doner kebabs and marinated chicken products.
“The Booker deal makes Paragon a truly national supplier and we have the manufacturing capacity and the people in place to enable us to grow even more quickly in the future,” added Mr. Pekin.
