On December 3, Forthglade opened its new 70,000-square-foot pet food factory based in Okehampton, England, U.K., according to the company’s website. With the new facility, the company plans to expand their local production team from 130 to 150 over the next few years. The factory is located near Dartmoor National park in Devon County. Last year, Forthglade produced 40 million meals for dogs and aims to double production with the new pet food factory.
Since Forthglade was established in 1971, the company has been based 12 miles from the new site, in Winkleigh, Devon. With local building expertise from Devon Contractors Ltd, the development of the pet food facility took 15 months to complete.
Design of Forthglade’s pet food factory
The new factory is designed to use recyclable white trays and sleeves, while recycling water and using excess steam from the production process to also heat offices.
Forthglade’s Joint Managing Directors Chris Brooking and Gerard Lovell took over the business in 2011, and have increased production fourfold and created an additional 71 local jobs.
Forthglade’s dog foods are sold in UK supermarkets including Waitrose, Sainsburys, Morrison’s and Tesco, as well as UK pet shops, online and are exported overseas to 11 countries.
“We’ve been planning the development of the factory for over five years now, so it’s fantastic to officially open it,” wrote Lovell on Forthglade’s website. “Throughout the project we’ve received incredible support from Devon County Council, whilst Devon Contractors Ltd. ensured a smooth build and seamless transition from the old Winkleigh factory to our new Okehampton home.
“We were keen to keep the factory in Devon to retain as many of our staff as possible, in fact we’ve kept almost 100 percent of them and soon the team will be growing again, as the sector of premium natural meals and treats for dogs continues to see huge growth."
Forthglade donates to local charities that help dogs
To celebrate the launch, Forthglade donated more than 6,000 meals to three local Devon charities, who look after dogs; Veterans With Dogs, ARC - Animal Rescue Centre and The Blue Cross.
Veterans With Dogs is a local charity dedicated to providing highly trained dogs to both current and former members of the British Armed Forces, who are suffering with service-related mental health conditions. The Blue Cross rehomes around 300 dogs each year. ARC - Animal Rescue Centre was founded in 1972 and is based in Ottery St Mary, Devon. The charity originally aimed to care for stray dogs and was managed by two ambitious ladies from their homes. Today the charity has a dedicated site containing sixteen kennels, an ancillary building and employs four full-time, and two part-time staff near Exeter.
