30th Birthday 1983 ““ 2013
In 1983, back in Yorkshire after travelling round the world for a year, (well the year extended to 3 ½ years actually) Mark Leather, began in very humble beginnings manufacturing Homemade Jams, Marmalades & Pickles, & selling them locally door to door, on local markets & even on the steps of York Castle Museum to tourists !. As the business progressed from direct sales to Wholesale via local Deli’s & Health Food shops etc, Mark saw an opportunity to sell pre-packed wholefood & healthy snacks options to the same outlets (Back in the early 80’s wholefood & healthy snacking was the preserve of the ‘old hippy or cranks’ ““ not the fast growing trendy & mainstream sector it is today)
Every year, bar one, in the last 30 years has lead to year on year growth, and a succession of moves into larger & larger premises. Now based in Tockwith, North Yorkshire, and employing a total of 21 staff, including partner Liz & his daughter Joanne, making this a true family business Country Products are enjoying a record year. The recessions now seems a thing of the past, with further recruitment & the introduction of a new twilight shift to try to keep pace with demand. Country Products, produces & packs a huge range of goods from the healthy snacking range through to their own recipe mueslis & cereals, the dried & glace fruits which are now in such seasonal demand.
Recent achievements include:
• Mention & recommendation by Delia Smith both in her latest book “Cakes”,
• Link from her website www.deliaonline.com .
• Passing their latest SALSA accreditation with a 100% clean audit score.
• Record sales levels achieved via wholesale outlets
• Record online sales via www.countryproducts.co.uk
• New revamp packaging for the Health Snacking sector to increase appeal to the educational & workforce market place, which lead to a tripling of sales within the first month.