Boparan Private Office (BPO), the owner of turkey producer Bernard Matthews, is investing £100m to expand British turkey production and respond to rising demand for convenient, high-protein foods. The move reflects wider food and drink consumer trends, including increased interest in nutritious, lower-fat products.
The programme will focus on Bernard Matthews’ principal facility in Halesworth, Suffolk, where the company currently processes approximately 100,000 turkeys each week. Planned improvements include upgrades to the buildings, enhanced facilities for the site’s 700 employees, a new lairage, and additional processing and refrigeration equipment.
The investment will also introduce advanced digital systems and robotics, aligning the site with the latest food manufacturing trends and developments in food processing technology. BPO said the improvements would support stronger animal welfare performance while enabling the manufacturer to create more innovative high-protein products.
New products are expected to include Gochujang Turkey Strips and Moroccan Style Turkey Koftas. They will complement the 64 turkey lines produced throughout the year at Bernard Matthews’ facilities in Halesworth and Sunderland. The expansion also highlights the role of food and drink industry innovation in developing products that meet changing consumer expectations.
President and founder of Boparan Private Office, Ranjit Singh Boparan, said: “We are about to ramp up turkey production for the traditional British Christmas, but looking beyond the festive spike, we also see big opportunities to offer this healthy, low fat, high protein alternative all year round, in a much bigger and more exciting way than anybody is doing right now.
“We’ll learn from our new European partners and work to create new opportunities for British turkey farmers and exciting new turkey products for our customers.”
He continued: “This £100m investment in our turkey business will drive innovation, improve animal welfare and create a healthier and more sustainable British food supply chain – a key aim of our £2bn NextGen strategy.”
Bernard Matthews will also benefit from the technical and operational expertise of German turkey producer Heidemark Group, acquired by BPO in February. The partnership could support further progress across food and drink sustainability, production efficiency and supply chain resilience.
BPO said the growing use of GLP-1 weight-loss medicines in the UK would further strengthen its focus on turkey as a practical, high-protein, low-fat and low-calorie choice. The strategy will also need to respond to evolving food and drink regulations, food distribution trends, food and drink packaging requirements and changing approaches to food and drink marketing.
