Gwobr i entrepreneur bwyd o Gymru
A milk producer turned entrepreneur who established a food business on his dairy farm in Carmarthenshire 22 years ago and now employs more than 250 staff, runs a fleet of over 60 lorries and procures £6m of Welsh food products a year, has been made an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies.
Brian Jones of Castell Howell, Pensarn, managing director of Castell Howell Foods, the largest independent food wholesaler in Wales, has received the award for his work in marketing Welsh food products.
He started the family firm just as the introduction of milk quotas was changing the dynamics of milk production. He began by supplying home-reared chicken to local pubs and restaurants to cater for the popular demand at the time for ‘chicken in the basket’ meals. Under his direction the business flourished and was soon manufacturing food products including sandwich fillings, ready-made meals, cakes and other items for the catering trade.
Today the business serves more than 4500 customers with a choice of over 10,000 catering products ranging from meats, cheeses, preserves, butters, yoghurts and cakes sourced in Wales. The company is also a partner with Wynnstay plc and the farmers co-op the Welsh Meat Company in the Celtic Pride premium beef scheme and is its sole distributor processing more than 90 cattle a week.
Last year Mr Jones was made Wales True Taste Ambassador in recognition of his contribution on behalf of the Welsh food industry.