No. 22 Natures Way Foods A way with food, naturally


Natures Way Foods has a simple approach to food manufacturing which is proving highly effective. ‘Everything is pinned around the seven wastes of lean and in teamwork to reduce these wastes,’ said its chief operating officer Richard Parr


Since Parr joined the management board in 2008, the Selsey- headquartered company has been on a ‘lean journey’ which has led to significant gains in output with minimal increases in footprint. “We want to be as lean as we can possibly be. We hold the very minimum of any work-in-progress inventory and our raw materials are predominantly less than 24 hours old. We receive an order at 6am, make to that order and start loading out the door by 4pm. “It is really dynamic – I love it,” he said.


NWF has a zero to landfill policy with everything from wellington boots to toner cartridges being recycled, re-used or re-distributed and all raw green waste is composted for fertiliser


From its roots as a tiny produce business, seen as a route to market by local farms in 1994, NWF has evolved and diversified into a one-stop-shop for fresh, healthy and convenient products. Split into ‘prepared produce’ and ‘meal solutions’ divisions the company turned over £162 million last year supplying bagged salads, salad bowls, prepared fruit, coleslaw and food to go. Servicing retail, food service and business-to-business customers including McDonalds, Pret, Pizza Express and the four big supermarkets, it currently operates across three sites in West Sussex – Selsey, Runcton and Merston with a


fourth factory, described by Parr as “our vessel for growth”, opening in Drayton.


Currently ranked 22 in The Business Magazine’s Solent 250 2017 listing, the NWF lean story began when Parr took the company back to basics in 2008 with a management development programme. Lean is now embedded in the culture of the company but Parr is adamant it’s the staff on the shop floor who underpin the ethos and are to credit for its success.


“Lean journeys can encounter resistance because staff fear they’ll become obsolete. But the programme should be about being as efficient as possible and in making colleagues’ activities easier. Through this the business can compete more effectively and will grow, securing jobs,” he explained.


Parr’s vision for creating a lean, efficient, end-to-end manufacturing process has seen the successful implementation of strategies such as lean, short interval control (SIC) and six sigma. All are in essence about identifying and acting on opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of production but just as importantly for Parr they are about transferring responsibly from management to the people doing the job. He is passionate that the operational team is empowered with the skills, ability and capital to identify areas for improvement and directly implement changes themselves.


“Empowering people on the shop floor is fundamental for me,” said Parr, explaining that ‘lean’ often involves measuring a process to


the nth degree followed by detailed analysis before problem solving, all of which is best done by those in close contact with the process and who are most likely to spot its flaws and create solutions. “This is why it can’t be a management programme it has to be shop-floor led,” he said.


You can’t argue with the results. Through this inclusive approach the company, which consumes 110,000 tonnes of raw material annually, has seen a massive reduction in waste and line downtime has been cut in half, while some fundamental changes within the layout and the manufacturing process has allowed the business to negate inflation year over year, grow significantly and continue to offer great value to its customers .


And it is environmentally friendly – NWF has a zero to landfill policy with everything from wellington boots to toner cartridges being recycled, re- used or re-distributed and all raw green waste is composted for fertiliser.


For Parr a key principle is a commitment to ensure the 1000- plus full-time workforce is given the opportunity to develop and support to gain professional qualifications. Parr said: “In a challenging world it is important we invest in our people; they are the brand.” Hence, over and above the normal training regime, an in- house training scheme was launched last year with over 350 employees working towards a formal National Food Qualification (NFU).


22 businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – MAY/JUNE 2017


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