A Worcestershire firm that makes its own dressings, has reached new markets with the help of a support programme.
Essential Dressings, based in Welland Road, Upton upon Severn, makes high quality dressings, drizzles, dips, sauces, coulis and jellies for independent retailers, such as farm shops and delicatessens.
Directors Anne and Kevin Capper used to own the White Season restaurant in Malvern, specialising in seafood.
Kevin, a professional chef who has worked all over the world, made all the sauces by hand and many of their customers would ask if they could buy them.
The demand became so great that Anne and Kevin set up Essential Dressings in 2002 and sold the restaurant a year later to concentrate full time on the new business.
Two years ago the company joined UK Trade & Investment's Passport initiative - a scheme giving training, planning and support to new exporters.
Now exports to countries such as Poland, Thailand, Sweden and Denmark represent ten per cent of the company's turnover.
The couple have set their sights on breaking into the Finnish market.
Helen Bethell, UK Trade & Investment's regional international trade adviser for food and drink said: "I'm delighted by Anne and Kevin's success, which they thoroughly deserve."
