- Business and industry in Bourne, Lincolnshire -

Geest plc

INCORPORATING BOURNE SALADS & BOURNE STIR FRY

The Geest organisation is one of the leading companies in the U K producing fresh prepared food and produce, particularly for the retail markets. The company has a successful history dating back to the 1930s, founded by the brothers John and Leonard Van Geest, who originally concentrated on the importation of bananas from the West Indies.

Today, their wide variety of produce and fresh prepared foods are supplied from sites predominantly in this country but also in Belgium, France, Spain and South Africa, employing some 9,000 people.

Two of their thirty business units, most of which operate in the U K, are based in Bourne. They are Bourne Salads, situated in new and expanding premises on the Spalding Road, and producing leafy salads, side salads and fresh herbs, while Bourne Stir Fry in Tunnel Bank concentrates on the stir-fry products that its name implies.

Geest has an extensive and diverse background of fresh food supply, evolving through the 20th century from a small family-run business into one of the leading fresh prepared foods and produce suppliers in the U K today. Their rate of growth and innovation can be assessed by the performance during 1999-2000 when more than 600 new or revised products were launched including sushi, toasties, organic ready meals, deli-style salads, dinner party pasta and even sweet dessert pasta.

Their object is clearly stated: "We intend to become the best fresh prepared food and produce company wherever we operate."