Apetito, the Germany-based ready-meals business, has received permission to build a new factory in the UK.

The privately owned group said the site in Trowbridge in south-west England will help the company meet increasing demand.

Apetito plans to start building the new facility – dubbed Kitchen West – later this year.

“Kitchen West will play a vital role in supporting our continued growth and helping us to meet increasing demand. It will enable us to expand our production capabilities and continue delivering high-quality meals for the customers who rely on us every day,” Ian Stone, the CEO of Apetito's UK operations, said in a statement issued this week.

The group applied for planning permission in July last year. The new plant, which will be located adjacent to Apetito’s existing factory on Canal Road in Trowbridge, will be constructed on land formerly occupied by the company’s so-called Pie Site, which closed at the end of 2024.

Apetito, which operates a meal delivery service in the UK to people’s homes known as Wiltshire Farm Foods, said there will be no changes to the current Trowbridge factory, the Mill Site, also situated on Canal Road.

Set up in 1958 by the Düsterberg family and headquartered in the German town of Rheine, Apetito entered the UK in 1991 and supplies hospitals, schools, nurseries and care homes with a range of frozen ready meals.

Headed up by group CEO Dr. Jan-Peer Laabs, the Apetito group generated sales in 2023 of €1.3bn ($1.4bn) and employs more than 12,700 staff across its international operations, which as well as the UK, includes Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, the US and Canada, according to its website.

In September, the group announced plans to expand its production site in Ottawa. The facility supplies meals to the healthcare sector in Canada.