Interfood marks 25 years of success

Interfood Technology is marking 25 years of supplying equipment and services to the UK and Ireland food industry and, despite inevitable changes and developments within the business, still relies on a commitment to service and support which has been the underpinning philosophy since its modest beginnings in 1999.

James Sydenham and Mark Bishop co-founded Interfood, starting up the business from Mark’s home in summer 1999. Since then, Interfood has grown to become the premier distributor and multi-award-winning service partner for many leading names in food processing and packaging.

Moving to its first commercial premises later that year – in Thame, Oxfordshire – Interfood outgrew this facility rapidly, moving next door to a premises twice the size before relocating to nearby Haddenham in 2017 with a 30,000 square feet office, warehouse and spare parts complex which remains the company’s UK HQ today. This is backed by its operation in County Tipperary which is dedicated to servicing the Irish market.

James Sydenham remains a director and shareholder of Interfood and is now focused on developing the company’s supply base which has seen a number of additions in recent months, including significant developments with the onboarding of equipment manufacturers for Interfood’s dedicated Bakery Solutions Division.

Rob Unwin took up the position of managing director earlier in the year, having worked for Interfood almost since its inception, joining only a matter of months after James and Mark founded the business.

Rob comments: “We have inevitably seen changes over the 25 years with automation taking on an ever-increasing role. The supply of standalone machines has and always will be fundamental to our business. However, in recent years projects that involve fully automated whole-line workflow solutions have become crucial to streamlining and therefore optimising the profitability of today’s food processing operations.”

Interfood is now structured through seven divisions to offer a range of solutions across the spectrum of food processing: butchery, preparation, curing to clipping, thermal processing and conditioning, slicing and packaging, inspection and end of line automation, and bakery solutions. Areas in which Interfood is active include meat, poultry, fish, cheese, plant-based, convenience foods, bakery, juices and pet food. What the customers say Many of Interfood’s customers have worked with the company for several years, some since the business was founded.

Quotes from customers on Interfood reaching the 25 year milestone include:

“We have been working with Interfood now for some 20 years and it continues to be a pleasure to work in partnership with Rob, Jim and the wider Interfood team. Interfood has become an integral part of the Cranswick operation and we are using equipment from across the Interfood portfolio in the majority of our 23 sites. It has been great to see the business go from strength to strength and I wish them every success in continuing to grow and develop,” says Chris Aldersley, chief operating officer, Cranswick plc.

“From a business perspective, Interfood has a good business model, and we have an excellent working relationship – supplying equipment across our various sites, from butchery through to retail pack production,” says David Parker, group engineering director Pilgrim’s Pride Ltd. “They have a very professional approach throughout all levels of the business, respecting confidentiality when working on leading edge projects. I see them as a market leader in terms of their depth of knowledge, with sales personnel who have been engineers so they understand our needs and how the equipment can deliver what we require to deliver a first-class project. Importantly, Interfood provides cost effective solutions and are second to none in terms of their service backup and support. I have been dealing with Interfood since 2006 and it is good to see that after all these years, they still maintain a very customer-focused ethos.”

Lee Godfrey, managing director Browns Food Group adds: “Our relationship with Interfood began back in the early noughties. It started to bear fruit straight away as the support, knowledge and expertise of Interfood and Weber enabled us to move into cooked meat slicing in a commercial and industrial capacity which gave us a greater grasp on efficiencies and ways of streamlining production. We tried a few companies back in the early days but when we met Interfood we realised that we had found a partner that could provide the equipment and service to help us compete with the best in the industry by adding value in a different way. We now have 24 Weber slicers – alongside clippers, injectors, tenderisers and brine mixing equipment – to support the six extensions to our cooked meat facility so far, including our most recent purchase, the Weber weSLICE 7500.”

“We have worked with Interfood since 2006 and if I could sum up the business succinctly, I’d say service, support and solutions-focused. Their knowledge of the equipment and applications is second to none. They have an understanding of the budget and always work with us to come up with the right, often creative, solution for what we need. Their knowledge extends from end to end of the production process and, over the years, we have bought injectors, tumblers, massagers, clippers, cookers, grillers, slicers, metal detectors and end-of-line packaging systems,” says John O’Brien, managing director, O’Brien Fine Foods Ltd

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