2 Sisters Food Group
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2 Sisters Food Group, a subsidiary of
Boparan Holdings Boparan Holdings Ltd is a company based in Birmingham, England, that owns food production and restaurant businesses. It is owned by Ranjit Singh Boparan and his wife, Baljinder Kaur Boparan. In March 2020, Boparan bought the Italian restaurant cha ...
Ltd, is a privately owned food manufacturing company with head offices in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England primarily focusing on private label manufacturing for retailer and food service markets. Established in 1993 by entrepreneur
Ranjit Singh Boparan Ranjit Singh Boparan (Punjabi: ਰਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੋਪਰਨ, born 24 August 1966) is a British businessman, and the founder and owner of 2 Sisters Food Group with his wife Baljinder Kaur Boparan. Known as the "Chicken King" in th ...
as a frozen retail poultry cutting operation, the company now covers 20 sites in the UK, six in the Netherlands, one in Ireland and one in Poland. It is the largest food company in the UK by turnover. The group employs 18,000 people, with annual sales of £3billion. It is listed 9th on the 2017 '' Sunday Times'' Top Track 100.


History

In November 2000 the sites at
Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...
and Flixton were acquired. These were significant acquisitions as it meant the group would move from a poultry meat cutting operation to a primary producer. In September 2005 the group purchased Haughley Park near
Stowmarket Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edm ...
, allowing the business to manufacture cooked and breaded poultry. In June 2007 the group made four acquisitions – including Joseph Mitchell (Letham) of
Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a pop ...
; Challenger Foods of Sunderland, where 400,000 chicken fillets per week are prepared for sandwich and pizza market; and the Tulip facility in Morecambe. In January 2008 the group bought Devon poultry firm
Lloyd Maunder Lloyd Maunder are an Exeter, Devon based group of West Country retail butchers, a major producer of locally reared beef, pork and chicken products. History FJP Maunder established a meat processing facility at Witheridge, Devon in 1879. He opene ...
. In April 2010 the group announced the agreed acquisition of Dutch-based chicken processor Storteboom Group, with facilities in the Netherlands and Poland. In January 2011 the group announced it was to buy Northern Foods PLC in a deal worth £342m. Then, in December 2011
Premier Foods Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, Lyons, Sharwood's, Loy ...
sold its Brookes Avana business, combining RF Brookes chilled foods and Avana Bakeries, to 2 Sisters for £30m.. In March 2013 the group announced the acquisition of the UK arm of Dutch poultry and red meat company VION. By August 2014 the business announced it was selling its Avana Bakeries cake business in Newport and its salads business Solway Foods in
Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...
, Northamptonshire and then in January 2018 the business announced it was selling its Goodfellas pizza business to Nomad Foods. In December 2013, the company was ranked as Britain's 4th Most Admired Company (food producers sector) in the ''
Management Today Haymarket Media Group is a privately held media company headquartered in London. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and previously on ...
'' Most Admired Company list, voted for by its industry peers. On 6 December 2017, the Group announced its full year results (52 weeks ending 27 July 2017). Sales were £3.28bn, with like-for-like operating profit of £64.5m. The Group reported profit after exceptional items, before interest and tax of £22.8m, against £63.4m profit the previous year. However, after exceptional items, interest and tax, losses for the year stood at £37.7m, against a loss of £1.4m the previous year. LTM EBITDA for the year was £161.2m In January 2018, 2 Sisters reached agreement with
Nomad Foods Nomad Foods is an American-British frozen foods company, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The company's jurisdiction of incorporation is the British Virgin Islands. In 2015, Nomad acquired the Iglo Group. Five countries – the UK, It ...
on the sale of its Goodfellas Pizza brand for £200m. In February 2018, Ranjit Singh Boparan announced he was stepping up into the role of President of parent company Boparan Holdings Limited and in May 2018, Ronald Kers was appointed CEO of 2 Sisters Food Group.


Sustainability

In December 2014, the business signed a major contract with Liverpool-based H2 Energy for the installation of bio-refineries at ten 2 Sisters factories to convert product waste into energy. The company claims the deal – which will eventually encompass all its manufacturing sites in the UK – will deliver 35,000 tonnes of carbon savings, 20,000 fewer lorry journeys a year and a significant electric and thermal energy boost, reducing its non-transport carbon footprint by 10%.


Controversies


Animal Welfare

In August 2022, industry whistle-blowers claimed factory farm chickens had "died slowly of heat exhaustion" after inadequate ventilation and cooling during the
2022 United Kingdom heat wave The 2022 United Kingdom heatwaves were part of several heatwaves across Europe and North Africa. The United Kingdom experienced three heatwaves; the first was for three days in June, the second for three days in July, and the third for six days ...
. 2 Sisters Food Group was listed as one of the companies involved. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was "deeply concerned" about the issue and that the sheer scale of the mortalities had prompted an investigation by officials.


Public Health

In August 2014, an undercover investigation into high levels of the food poisoning bacteria campylobacter in food in the UK allegedly showed raw chicken, contaminated by being dropped on the factory floor, being returned to the production line at one factory. The company strongly disputed this claim, pointing out the footage did not prove the chicken entered the human food chain. The
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initially cleared the factory of any wrongdoing but then admitted a breach of regulations had occurred though the company was not fined. In November 2014, 2 Sisters claimed to have launched the most comprehensive programme in the poultry industry to reduce campylobacter levels. The initiative, claimed to be costing £10m, would encompass the entire supply chain from farm through to consumer, using a variety of interventions including blast surface chilling and 'no touch' packaging. In September 2017, an undercover investigation filmed workers allegedly changing the slaughter dates – and hence the sell-by dates – at a 2 Sisters plant in
West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...
. The company strenuously denied the allegations. Within days, management at the plant decided to suspend production. The subsequent Food Standards Agency investigation report, published 2 March 2018, cleared the business of any serious non-compliances. The CEO of the FSA, Jason Feeney, said: "Our investigation found some areas for improvement but the issues were resolved promptly by the company, who co-operated fully, and at no point did we find it necessary to take formal enforcement action". Shadow Business Secretary at the time,
Jack Dromey John Eugene Joseph Dromey (29 September 1948 – 7 January 2022) was a British politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2010 until his death. A member of the Labour Party, he was depu ...
said 2 Sisters were informed that dates on their chicken had been changed as early as 2009. In June 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, Public Health Wales confirmed 75 cases at the 2 Sisters chicken factory in
Llangefni Llangefni (meaning "church on the River Cefni", ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded Llangefni's population as 5,116 people, ma ...
on
Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
. All staff had to self-isolate.


References


External links


2 Sisters website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2sisters 1993 establishments in England Companies based in the West Midlands (county) Food and drink companies established in 1993 Meat companies of the United Kingdom