For Essex-based dried fruit importer Ozgur Tarim, Christmas is big business. In fact, according to managing director Marcus Welch, 15 per cent of all dried fruit imported into the UK is used in much loved Christmas food products – for example mince pies and Christmas puddings.
Since launching in 2017 with a £2 million credit facility from Lloyds Bank, which enabled it to source in bulk the huge quantities of dried fruit needed to fuel the country’s seemingly insatiable demand, the business has gone from strength to strength. It now supplies a quarter of all dried fruit imported to the UK, including fruit for many of the Christmas goodies you’ll have munched on this year.
The company, which turned over £11.3 million in its first year of operating, generated turnover of £23 million last year thanks to the support of Lloyds Bank. It now expects to boost turnover to £26 million in year three.
Ozgur Tarim imports dried fruit and seeds from all over the world, including Turkey, Greece, Belgium, South Africa, America, China and India, to its site in Halstead, Essex.
Dealing with so many foreign currencies and bulk purchases, the business also use Lloyds Bank’s foreign exchange payment and clearing services. Though they are thinking of looking into other forex platforms in order to get better exchange rates, such as those found on the Leverate white label trading platform. For now, Lloyds will have to do.
Once imported, the dried fruit is transported all over the country to bakeries and food manufacturing plants, where it is used for Christmas puddings, mince pies, confectionaries and other sweet treats.
Managing director Marcus Welch said: “This is only the beginning for us but we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved already and look forward to growing our business further in the coming years.
“The support we’ve had from Lloyds Bank, who have been by our side throughout the process, has been amazing. Having the access to the lines of credit we did meant we could start out on the right path and invest in our growth from the beginning.”
