Kokova Magazine

Abbeydale Foods, the company committed to using local suppliers and sourcing all of its potatoes, flour and beef from within Yorkshire, have purchased Pie Toms, the makers of the Easi-Peasy brand of mushy peas.

Pie Toms is based in South Kirby, West Yorkshire and employs ten people and has total retail sales of over two million pounds.

Abbeydale Foods has a turnover of £6m and owns the famous Denby Dale Pie brand, which has recently been featured on Sean Wilsons's Great Northern Cookbook programme.

Pie Toms is a great little business for us to acquire, as mushy peas are a great accompaniment to our pie and potato businesses. Mushy Peas, or Yorkshire Caviar, as it's called in these parts, are an iconic British staple and as British as red letter boxes and Coronation Street.

There are fervent lovers of mushy peas across Britain, and they're delicious with just about anything from traditional Fish & Chips to pies and for dieters.

Our aim is to put traditional mushy peas back on the foodie map and maximise the joint marketing and business potential of all three businesses.

Our products are about quality, traditional foods, made by locals and using British and Yorkshire produce when possible and supporting the farming community. Pie Toms fits our ethos and our aims perfectly and we’re looking forward to growing the business and increasing our workforce in future.

Andrew Hayes, Group Managing Director

The deal was completed with the aid of Tata Steel subsidiary UK Steel Enterprise and Lloyds TSB Commercial Banking. Abbeydale Foods is a group of food business supplying the multiples, food service, B2B with traditional prepared foods.