Bakery manufacturer Evron Foods, which supplies Subway’s breads, is to invest £400k in research and development, to include the investigation of a new sweet muffin-style range.

The investment has been supported by an offer of over £140,000 from Invest NI, with funding from the European Regional Development Programme.

The firm, which manufactures a range of chilled, frozen and ambient breads and pastries for the retail, foodservice, wholesale and food processing sectors, now hopes to increase its current turnover of approximately £20m by 50% within the next three years.

It has also appointed a new commercial manager and key account manager as part of its plan to drive the business forward.

“With the support of Invest NI, we now hope to achieve additional efficiencies by further strengthening our management team, while increasing our foothold in the retail bakery market around the UK and Ireland with our new sweet muffin range,” said Morris Evans, managing director, Evron Foods.

He said alongside the constant challenge of meeting and exceeding customer expectations, the firm has also faced increasing pressure on its overheads. “Flour, butter and electricity costs have all risen dramatically in recent times, but this further motivates us to be innovative in how we do things,” he added.