Bridge Cheese matures in the most challenging of years

Now Bridge Cheese’s managing director Michael Harte has his sights firmly set on pastures new in 2021.

Mr Harte said: “It has been a challenging time for food and drink manufacturers, but because we are a small to medium size business we have been able to flex to customer demands more than some of the industry giants. It’s part of the reason we’ve remained a strong business throughout the crisis, because we’ve built Bridge Cheese on our ability to respond to customers’ individual needs.”

Established in 2018, Bridge Cheese is a relative newcomer to the market, but it is being led by a seasoned executive team with over 80 years of collective experience in the food industry.

The company sources a wide range of cheese and dairy ingredients from across the UK and Europe which are then used to produce a range of cheese products for customers such as restaurant chains, food manufacturers and wholesalers. Its products range from grated cheddar cheese found in retail sandwiches to the string cheese used in stuffed-crust pizzas sold by take-away giants across the UK.

In the last 18 months, a number of significant contract wins have put Bridge Cheese on a growth trajectory. Demand for its products has also spiked throughout the Covid crisis.

“We have a really strong product offer for pizza restaurants, and for much of the year takeaway pizzas have been in high demand. This, coupled with strong retail demand from our food manufacturer customers, has boosted our yearly sales considerably above what we had expected,” said Michael.

As well as building on the company’s strong UK performance, Mr Harte believes 2021 will also be ripe for growing the company’s export sales.

“Despite the challenges associated with Brexit, international trade could hold significant opportunities for food producers and processors like Bridge Cheese. Food and drink exports from the UK are recognised globally for their quality and we see international sales of our products as a real growth area for us in 2021.”

Michael believes the year ahead won’t all be smooth sailing though, and Bridge Cheese is readying itself for a few more Brexit and Covid curve balls.

He added: “We are anticipating some challenges in 2021, particularly around the early around the impact of leaving the European Union, such as exports being held up due to extra administration, disrupted supply chains or increased costs impacting our bottom line. It’s also possible that Brexit and/or a prolonged continuation of the Covid crisis will adversely affect consumer confidence.

"But as in 2020, we’ll keep our approach flexible and deliver customer-centric solutions to any challenges which arise.”