{"id":347968,"date":"2025-08-16T01:36:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T01:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/347968\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T01:36:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T01:36:19","slug":"the-multi-million-pound-welsh-business-empire-which-grew-from-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/347968\/","title":{"rendered":"The multi-million-pound Welsh business empire which grew from nothing\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The boom in protein-rich foods has seen a rise in a business empire born from humble beginnings in Wales<\/p>\n

15:59, 11 Aug 2025Updated 15:27, 15 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

\"ToluTolu Olusi, chief nut officer, tests the produce at Wrexham’s Meridian site (Image: Ian Cooper)<\/p>\n

In Wrexham<\/a> it isn\u2019t just the now world-famous football club which is riding the crest of a wave. On a building inside the unremarkable Redwither business park a team of 60 people at Meridian are producing something they believe is the finest peanut butter in the country.<\/p>\n

The business now turns over a multi-million pound profit each year<\/a> and is split between production and milling and packaging. The once small business which was founded by Andrew Jedwell near his home at the former site in Corwen in the 1980s is now making a fortune.<\/p>\n

The butter isn\u2019t the kind you\u2019d find in any shop, packed with palm oil and preservatives. It’s simply nuts including the skins, crushed, meaning the pastes retain more fibre and micronutrients, and is – relatively – straightforward to produce.<\/p>\n

Andrew, who had moved to north Wales from London, was ahead of his time in that even back then he wanted the nut butter created by the company to be pure and as unprocessed as possible. His butters were the first on the market in the UK to be 100% nuts and in the age of clean eating the business continues to grow.<\/a><\/p>\n

Working in production is 67-year-old master roaster Chris Ullein. The ex-swimming pool manager from Corwen has worked for the company for 27 years and manages the roasting process. He directs a small team of eight roasters who are busier than ever. \u201cMy main responsibility is to make sure every batch we produce is of the highest quality,\u201d he tells WalesOnline. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to <\/a>our food and drink newsletter here<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ThisChris Ullien, 67, has worked for Meridian for 27 years and says not much has changed day to day despite the industry seeing somewhat of a boom in recent years(Image: Ian Cooper)<\/p>\n

Part of that is the precise act of roasting. When Chris started shadowing the roasters in 1998 he wasn\u2019t allowed to roast himself for five years until he was finally left to have a go alone. “It\u2019s quite a precise process and the timings need to be spot on,” he says.<\/p>\n

When Andrew’s team of 17 began milling nuts, which the company had bought ready-roasted, it was then he realised the taste was off and quickly began roasting in house. “It has to be perfect,” Chris explains.<\/p>\n

\"TheChris says the process has to be precise(Image: Ian Cooper)<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s nuts are sourced from across the world – now mostly from South and North America – before being shipped to the UK where they\u2019ve been sold in supermarkets since 2013. The jars are also lapped up in 11 other countries including Romania across the Middle East and do particularly well on Amazon.<\/p>\n

Once they arrive at the Wrexham site, which smells as good as you’d imagine, they go through quality checks before they are roasted by Chris\u2019 team. After they are roasted they are packed into huge tote bags and transferred to the milling site down the road where they\u2019re blended into either smooth or crunchy pastes. The pastes are then deposited into jars and are labelled with colour-coded strips to make them easy to shop for.<\/p>\n

\"TheOnce roasted the nuts are placed into huge bags before being taken to be milled and packaged(Image: Ian Cooper)<\/p>\n

You’d be hard-pressed to find bigger business in the food industry at the moment than peanut butter. The rush for the gloopy goodness first fuelled by protein-hungry health freaks has transcended those who hit the bench press three times a week and has now become a staple in the middle class family home.<\/p>\n

Such was the rise in popularity of nut butters that Meridian has moved away from making cooking sauces, sweeteners, olive oils and jams and started to focus completely on nut butters and it\u2019s paid off. The company now sells six million of its jars through supermarkets in the UK and produces over 1,000 tonnes of peanut butter a year. The company’s value sales rose by 13.6% to \u00a319.3m in the year to May 2025.<\/p>\n

Such is the demand that even standard peanut butter – already very protein rich – isn\u2019t enough for some. The company has recently launched its range of \u201cprotein peanut butter\u201d which is available in Ireland and through Ocado.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe company now sells six million of its jars through supermarkets in the UK and produces over 1,000 tonnes of peanut butter a year(Image: Ian Cooper)<\/p>\n

Chief nut officer – her unofficial title – Tolu Olusi, who was born in Nigeria and began working for Meridian after moving to Llangollen, says people have noticeably become more health conscious. “Our core customers are modern and informed people and families who usually lead busy lives but want to make intentional choices about their food.<\/p>\n

“More people now want better, more natural nutrition from brands which share those values. They are people who are passionate about their food and cooking and leading healthier lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grzegorz Bartelik, 40, from Poland, joined Meridian in 2024 as general manager and oversees both sites. He says he isn\u2019t surprised by the craving for pure peanut butter which has driven the company\u2019s boom.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs more people become health-conscious, they are looking for natural, plant-based sources of protein, and nut butters fit the bill,\u201d he says. \u201cThe nuts are very versatile too \u2013 great in smoothies, sauces, marinades, or spread on toast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheMeridian has grown into a multi-million pound company from humble beginnings but has remained in north Wales(Image: Ian Cooper)<\/p>\n

Agnieszka Szczupak, 32, is also from Poland and joined the company in 2011 and operated machinery before becoming a quality technician in 2022. Arguably the best job for the company, she spends her days making sure the produce tastes right and tastes the butters hourly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s become a kitchen essential very quickly,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s healthy and it\u2019s plant-based protein which is what many are looking for. It\u2019s definitely never been more popular.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boom in protein-rich foods has seen a rise in a business empire born from humble beginnings in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[486,748,16709,3374,4884,16708,1797,11746,457,455,1294,1735,16,15,1764,18833],"class_list":{"0":"post-347968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-asda","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-conwy","11":"tag-employment","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-gwynedd","14":"tag-morrisons","15":"tag-north-wales","16":"tag-people","17":"tag-real-life","18":"tag-sainsburys","19":"tag-tesco","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-wales","23":"tag-wrexham"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115035883867935753","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}