Westmill Foods, the owner of “Lucky Boat” Noodles, is pleased to have increased its noodle manufacturing capacity through the purchase of the manufacturing assets of TingFung Foods Ltd.
This acquisition gives Westmill additional, high quality, Noodles manufacturing capacity which will allow it to continue to expand and grow the noodles part of its business
Westmill Foods Europe GmbH started life as ‘Jacova’ in a little city in Northwest Germany, close to Frankfurt, serving Chinese restaurants and takeaways.
25 years ago it was taken over by B.E. International Foods (and accordingly renamed B.E. International Foods) and in 2006, acquired by Westmill Foods.
The business has grown over the years and now serves ethnic wholesalers and retailers, as well as the Chinese restaurants and takeaways.
On September 1st, the name was changed and presents one, united Westmill: Westmill UK; Westmill Foods Europe BV (Netherlands) and now Westmill Foods Europe GmbH.
Elephant supported the local community by donating its new Chakki Gold to Langar week, which aims to highlight the uniquely Sikh concept of Langar: free vegetarian food for all, regardless of faith, gender, age or status.
Although Langar runs regularly in most Gudwaras, Langar week was established to make the wider non-Sikh community aware that Gudwaras are places that anyone can go to for free food with no expectations or stigma attached.
Langar week took place between 5th and 11th October, and events took places across India, USA, Canada, Malaysia and the UK.
Elephant donated its new Chakki Gold – stoneground, authentic chapatti flour – to the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurwara in Gravesend (the largest Gudwara in Europe) enabling 30,000 servings of food over the course of the week.
Elephant has built a strong connection with the temple over recent years, and are proud to be able to support this key event.
Elephant Atta has great affinity amongst South Asian consumers, and as the 2011 census reveals, London’s Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi population exceeds 730,000, so it provides the perfect opportunity to bring the brand closer to its consumers hearts and minds.
Elephant Atta focussed on being unmissable in three key areas: Harrow, Hounslow and Southall.
Prominent outdoor advertising was displayed over a 12 week period, while a team of brand ambassadors delivered 8,000 sample bags directly to consumers to try in their own kitchens.
Elephant also supported the community at the Southall Nagar Kirtan, a procession to celebrate the Sikh New Year and the founding of the Sikh community, by donating flour to the local Gurdwara who gave out hot fresh chapattis to procession goers.
Elephant Atta was also proud to host a fun and interactive tent at the London Mela, held at Gunnersbury Park, attended by more than 50,000 consumers. Alongside cooking demonstrations and face painting for the kids, families enjoyed fresh chapattis served with Patak’s pickles, along with money off vouchers to encourage purchase after the event.
In September, Westmill launched its new Environmental policy with the goal of further improving the environmental performance of the business.
The day-to-day operations, from energy and water use, to the paper and packaging it purchases, can impact the environment.
Westmill has already carried out a number of energy savings initiatives to improve waste segregation and recycling so that no waste is sent to landfill!
The new and challenging Environmental strategy aims to do more, and bring a greater focus on environmental sustainability and addresses five main areas:
Westmill believes that everyone in the business can help achieve those targets, whether its ensuring that waste is correctly handled, stored and disposed of; using water efficiently; or sharing suggestions for pollution prevention, waste reduction or energy conservation.
One of Elephant Atta’s greatest strengths is the heritage it shares with Indian families. Our valued position in the hearts and minds of our customers has been hard earned with campaigns celebrating the passing down of traditions, and this year’s Ramadan promotion is no different.
Our latest campaign celebrates the special bond between mother and daughter. During May and July of this year, customers will be given the opportunity to collect tokens – one from a 25Kg pack, two from a 10Kg pack – to get two free aprons. ‘One for Mum, one for me’.
As an additional reward, we are also offering 50p off to consumers purchasing a 25Kg pack during this period.
The promotion will be supported the impactful point of sale and a major TV campaign. You wont be able to miss it!
Ramadan is the most important time of the year for many of Westmill’s customers.
This year we wanted to support them with their merchandising on a level never seen before. We wanted to see our wholesale, cash and carry, and grocery customers unveiling their best ever Ramadan displays.
We knew it was going to take something special to make this happen, so we called on our Westmill colleagues, to join our Sales and Marketing teams.
The response was staggering: 61 people from right across the business – including members of the Board, colleagues from Head Office, the factory, the warehouse, and from every site stepped forward to take part in the biggest merchandising team Westmill has ever seen, and hit the road.
We called on 156 outlets across the country to help our customers increase on and off-shelf presence of our Elephant Atta, Rajah, Tolly Boy and Habib brands, and create impact with eye-catching point of sale (POS) tools in and around the product.
Effective merchandising displays increase sales by promoting key messages, increasing brand presence, assisting with product navigation and capitalising on the ‘impulse’ to buy
We saw some fantastic creative work in this first true cross-business collaboration of its kind at Westmill, and we hope the first of many!