The end of the Great British pasty is nigh, according to a Birmingham entrepreneur who specialises in Caribbean-style patties.

Jamaican-born Wade Lyn, who has live in Birmingham for the past 39 years, claims the palate of the British public is changing - with an increasing clamour for spicier versions of traditional favourites.

Mr Lyn is the owner of Cleone Foods, producers of the Island Delight brand of Caribbean-style food.

Having trained as a teacher, Mr Lyn went on to work for Wolverhampton-based Quick Food Products.

However in 1988, after he spotted a gap in the market for individually wrapped patties, he left the firm to found Cleone.

Using a bank loan and a Department of Trade and Industry grant to finance his company, Mr Lyn began by selling his products to local fast-food restaurants and convenience stores.

The Island Delight brand now accounts for 55 per cent of the mainstream Caribbean food market.

The company transferred production from New Town to Hockley in 1994 and now produces up to 140,000 patties a week for distribution to major supermarket chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons.

Cleone employs 44 people and had 2004 profits before tax of £220,000 on turnover of £2 million, with a predicted turnover in 2005 of £2.1 million.

Until recently much of the company's distribution has previously been to cities with high ethnic population, but with 80 per cent of sales from non-ethnic customers, Mr Lyn believes the whole of the UK is now ready for the taste of Caribbean-style food. He said: "Currently we only actually supply ten per cent of UK supermarkets, with the bulk of distribution in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

"However, we are getting people from outside these areas who tell us that they have to travel to buy our products.

"We are now working on extending out of traditionally ethnic areas into other cities, such as Bristol."

The company were further encouraged while exhibiting at last year's Good Food Show at Birmingham's NEC.

Mr Lyn said: "Our stall was opposite Ginster's and we were amazed at the number of people that were attracted away from their stand towards ours. People's tastes have changed, and they're now looking for spicier food."

The pattie is a much spicier version of the traditional pasty - a light pastry crust, coloured with turmeric and filled with spiced meat, fish or vegetables.

Mr Lyn believes it has a rightful place in the UK market.

"It was under the influence of the British in Jamaica in the 17th Century that the pattie was developed and, now, nearly 400 hundred years later, it perfectly meets the needs of UK consumers looking for an interesting and exciting snack," he said.

The company is also keen to roll out a new line of jerk chick and pork ranges, which should be in supermarket delicatessens within the next few months. Mr Lyn said the company is also hoping to provide delicatessens with a range of ready meals.

This will include the traditional Caribbean dish curry goat.

"If you go shopping it is now pretty easy to find Indian and Chinese food at the deli, but not Mexican or African Caribbean food," Mr Lyn said.

"We want people to be able to have much more choice."