A Boston pet food company which began with a single oven on a family farm is celebrating a major expansion - bringing 20 new jobs to the area - with an open day on September 18.
The high tech computerised production and packaging line, part funded by a Processing and Marketing Grant from Defra, at Fold Hill Foods Ltd, Old Leake, will nearly double the factory's production capacity for pet food for dogs, cats, and small animals.
The company will use 7000 tonnes of Lincolnshire-grown crops a year to manufacture the equivalent of 131 million bowls of dog food for international sale.
Fold Hill Foods, owned and run by the Grant family since 1979, will increase its capacity for existing products and add semi-moist dog food to the company's product range.
General manager Brian Allen said:
"We're in an increasingly competitive market - we supply big supermarkets as well as the new pet superstores, and we're bidding against companies across Europe for business. The new line means we can offer more products, and make sure we keep our position as one of the biggest independent pet food makers."
"Our expansion will also benefit the local economy as we will be taking on workers in a rural area."
Peter Hayman, from Defra's Rural Development Service, said:
"Defra is committed to helping to sustain rural communities and this grant, one of the biggest this year in Lincolnshire, will help create new jobs where they're desperately needed. One of the conditions for the grant was that production is sourced in the county, and we know that means around 80 farmers and sellers will benefit directly."