Foreword from Nigel O’Donnell, M.D. of Meadow Vale Foods
It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone and I find myself welcoming you again to another yearly review from Meadow Vale Foods.
2024 certainly presented some challenging times for the foodservice industry with uncertainty in both supply chain reliability and the ongoing global economic uncertainty providing headaches for all. But once again you, our valued customers, continued to meet these challenges with resilience which in turn focussed our drive to deliver growth and innovation in equal measures.
This year we truly did expand our reach far and wide, once again breaking records for the amounts of tradeshows exhibited at, wholesale and cash & carry cook offs attended, new product launches and marketing campaigns undertaken.
Our ability to focus on growth and delivering the very best added value poultry service to the UK wholesale industry couldn’t be achieved without your continued support, and we look forward to sharing more innovative new products and exciting new projects in 2025.
Meadow Vale In 2024
As 2024 draws to a close it’s finally time to reflect on another year here at Meadow Vale Foods.
From new product launches to national trade shows attended and from one-of-a-kind ‘Connect’ online ordering systems to winning multiple awards for our brand-new Sizzling Chicken brand, it’s been another busy year for Meadow Vale!
Out On The Road At National Shows
2024 was another busy year for Meadow Vale attending trade shows up and down the country. As ever we returned to the Excel in London on two separate occasions, once for the International Food & Drink Exhibition (IFE) in March, returning again in October for the Takeaway & Restaurant Expo.
In between these shows we exhibited at the UK Food & Drink Expo at the NEC in Birmingham in April, as well as making our debut at ExpoWest down in Cornwall in early March.
These national trade shows are vital for us. We get the opportunity to speak to thousands of food service professionals, hear about their businesses, taste products, get feedback and discuss exciting new menu ideas. This is all part of our continued focus on delivering an industry leading service, as not only can our development chefs talk directly to our customers they can also give live demos of menu ideas that can inspire and lead to new lines being added to menus.
Meadow Vale’s Newest Brand Taking The Foodservice Industry By Storm
In our 2023 end of year review we mentioned how you wouldn’t need to wait too long for new and innovative products and that was the case as we launched our industry leading new brand, Sizzling Chicken in January.
Sizzling Chicken was billed, ‘the next generation of added value frozen poultry ’ and features 6 lines of fully cooked succulent hand cut, deboned and flattened chargrilled fillets, thighs and skewers. The range delivers the ultimate uncoated chicken option for menus right across the foodservice industry, and has continued to go from strength to strength as the year evolved.
Uncoated chicken is a popular protein amongst the health conscious and younger generations, and the introduction of Sizzling Chicken provided that top quality Meadow Vale produce that comes from over 35 years’ experience in the industry.
Our brand-new Sizzling range has been at the forefront of all national shows and has been showcased at over 50 wholesaler and customer presentations. Between our development chefs and sales team we have sent out over 1,400 samples of the products, highlighting their popularity right off the bat!
The success of Sizzling Chicken has been a great reward for the many years that the brand has been in development, and it wasn’t just the foodservice industry that was blow away by it, but also the judges of the major UK foodservice awards…
Sizzling Chicken Scoops Up Major Awards
Sizzling Chicken had been on the market for just over 10 months when it scooped up its 4th major award win! Our Sizzling Shawarma Chargrilled Chicken Boneless Thigh has won not one but two major awards, winning Gold in the category of Best New Main Meat at the British Frozen Food Awards in June, then another Gold in the category of Foodservice Meat at the Quality Food Awards in November.
That wasn’t the end of the wins though as our Sizzling Piri Piri Chargrilled Chicken Boneless Thigh also won Gold at the Q Awards in the same category of Foodservice Meat, whilst the Sizzling Original Chargrilled Chicken Skewers took home a Silver in the category of Foodservice Party Food & Buffet.
Speaking on the award wins, Head of Marketing Lewis Wantling said,
The successes of the Sizzling Chicken range mirrors the success we saw when launching our Homestyle Chicken range, proving that a clear focus and investment in innovation and product development leads to a market leading brand for the industry.
The foodservice industry has been crying out for a fresh take on classic chargrilled chicken, and the multi-award-winning Sizzling Chicken range has now further cemented itself as the gold standard in the industry!
Award wins are fantastic for the business as it not only highlights the innovative and excellent products that are coming out of Meadow Vale Foods but it's also a way to recognise the hard work and dedication of everyone within the company who each play such a pivotal role in bringing these award-winning chicken lines to market.
Meadow Vale Launches Brand New Online Ordering Platform
As the business world continues to move at such a rapid pace so too do we here at Meadow Vale. This year saw the launch of Meadow Vale Connect; an online hub that gives you 24/7 access to live sales data, pricing, product information and order tracking.
Meadow Vale Connect also gives account holders the chance to place orders online using our state-of-the-art pallet builder. The online ordering system delivers a real time view of your pallet being built, which allows for a seamless and stress-free way to ensure your pallets are full and ready to be ordered.
Since its launch at the end of April we have seen a monthly increase in both sign-ups and online orders, with Meadow Vale Connect being the preferred ordering method for around 50 of our wholesale businesses.
The beauty of Meadow Vale Connect lies in its versatility. The new year will see more functionality introduced that will feature a social hub for all marketing assets. This will open up the programme to even more people and become the go-to place for all news and information regarding new product launches and all goings on at Meadow Vale.
Continued Focus On Brand Awareness
A key focus for 2024 was to continue to make a real presence in the foodservice industry and this was achieved by increasing brand awareness through both our wholesale and end-user channels.
From a wholesale standpoint we undertook more marketing activity than ever, with over 150 different projects completed. This comes in the shape of everything from digital marketing activity for website and social media channels, in-store appearances and cook-ups, bespoke brochures and promotional flyers as well as branding up freezers in Meadow Vale colours.
We also focused heavily on promoting our new products in the form of sending out samples of our seriously tasty chicken, with over 2,000 boxes being delivered to both end-users and wholesalers alike.
Our website has seen many upgrades too, with a clearer focus on the creation of tailored content around specific brands and ranges as well as the production of promotional videography on both a branded and menu idea level.
The desire for fresh and engaging content comes directly from our focus on innovation and consumer trends. Our marketing department is here to help customers any which way we can, and the creation of on-trend menu idea videos is a surefire way to showcase both the quality and versatility of all Meadow Vale products.
Everything Else Meadow Vale!
We’ve touched upon some of the exciting projects that have happened so far in 2024 at Meadow Vale, with many of the major projects listed above. However, the action didn’t stop there as you’ll see below in our brief summary of all the other achievements in the year.
At the end of August Meadow Vale entered into an exclusive partnership with Yearsley Food Ltd which saw them become our sole supply partner for Ireland. This partnership allows us to offer our customers more on the ground support, faster service and a wider range of products.
Our retail brand American Ranch was also in the spotlight this October as a new website was launched to showcase 'the home of great tasting chicken’.
Featuring everything from detailed product pages, meal ideas to make at home and a quick and easy way to find your local stockist, this relaunch focuses on the growth of our retail division which will continue right into the new year and beyond.
Our European growth continued to rise in 2024, with increased volumes of products finding their way into the continent.
Growth in Europe was earmarked as a key target for this year, and with another year of trading we are seeing a real appetite for Meadow Vale’s seriously tasty chicken right across France, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia and many more European countries!
We continued to invest in stock too, ensuring that at any given time there’s a continuous flow of over 7,000 pallets of Meadow Vale chicken ready to be delivered from our cold storage facilities to your wholesale businesses on a day 1 for day 3 service.
Our commitment to sustainability pledge was also a major focus in 2024 with changes in both supply chain, animal welfare practices and office waste management to ensure we are thinking about our impact on the environment with everything we do.
And finally, we continued to support multiple local charities this year, with regular food donations to the Chester Soul Kitchen and the Wrexham Foyer.
Our December festive donation saw enough chicken dropped off to make around 1,650 meals for the most vulnerable people in our community, which we hope will ease some of the pressures they are facing at this time of year.
2025: Why Choose Meadow Vale?
With the new year on the horizon Meadow Vale are looking forward to another year of being ‘Your Partners In Poultry’. Our continued commitment to product innovation, customer support, cutting edge marketing and supply chain security will allow us to go even bigger and better than before.
Take a look at our latest Market Report, Looking Forward to 2025. The October budget saw a lot of focus on the rise in National Insurance and minimum wage which will have a direct effect on all businesses in the foodservice industry. With these changes amongst many others we are continuing to see a steady shift from businesses using raw moving to frozen, and this is a trend we expect to see grow even more in 2025.
Meadow Vale Foods is proud to announce that we have once again achieved a stellar service level for 2024, standing at over 99%*. With the best added value frozen poultry on the market and a whole host of new and exciting projects lined up for the future, 2025 is set up to be another exciting year here at Meadow Vale!
*data correct as of 12/12/24. Service level equation relates to cases sold minus the returns requests raised against sales.
