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British plant-based brand The Tofoo Co has broken ground on a new manufacturing facility at Malton Enterprise Park in North Yorkshire, an infrastructure investment designed to double production capacity and support commercial expansion across the UK and mainland Europe.
Construction of the site began last month in partnership with commercial developer Harrison Developments Malton LLP, with completion and site migration scheduled for autumn 2027. Once operational, the facility is engineered to support £73 million in commercial turnover, providing 3.5 times the productive footprint of the brand's existing Malton site and establishing a production platform to surpass 10,000 tonnes of tofu annually by 2033.
The manufacturing expansion comes as consumer purchasing within the plant-based sector continues to polarise, with shoppers moving away from heavily processed meat analogues in favour of minimally processed, whole-food protein sources with clean ingredient profiles.
"We've built a strong position in the UK tofu market, and we see significant opportunities ahead as more consumers discover tofu as a natural, versatile source of protein," said David Knibbs, Chief Executive Officer of The Tofoo Co.
"This investment is about creating the foundations for our next chapter and ensuring we have the capacity, capability and flexibility to meet growing demand from both the UK and Europe."
Manufacturing Architecture and Innovation Infrastructure
The design of the Malton facility integrates advanced food processing lines alongside dedicated technical incubation and development spaces:
Capacity and Floorplate: Delivers twice the processing output and 3.5 times the floor area of current operations, engineered to scale production beyond 10,000 tonnes over the next seven years.
Development Kitchen and Pilot Plant: Features an on-site culinary test kitchen and integrated pilot facility calibrated for rapid recipe prototyping, new product development (NPD), commercial trial runs, and retail buyer presentations.
Futureproof Buffer Allocation: Retains 25% of unallocated interior floor space to integrate future processing machinery, accommodate category line extensions, and respond to shifting manufacturing requirements.
Sustainability and Resource Efficiency
Resource efficiency and decarbonisation protocols have been integrated into the site's engineering specifications to curb industrial utility consumption and lower Scope 1 and Scope 2 operational footprints:
On-Site Renewable Energy: Integrated rooftop photovoltaic solar arrays designed to offset baseline grid electricity demand.
Effluent and Heat Recovery: Optimised wastewater reduction systems paired with industrial heat recovery loops to capture and reuse thermal energy across production stages.
Transport Infrastructure: On-site commercial electric vehicle (EV) charging bays supporting local distribution and employee transit.
European Market Expansion
The facility investment follows sustained commercial expansion for the North Yorkshire-based producer, which was acquired by European private equity firm Comitis Capital in August 2024 and subsequently acquired German organic seitan manufacturer Topas in early 2026.
While maintaining a leading volume share in the UK chilled tofu category, the business has broadened its commercial reach across continental Europe, securing new product listings across French and German retail fixtures. The expanded processing bandwidth in Malton is structured to supply these growing export channels while supporting domestic retail multiples seeking reliable supply agreements for high-protein ambient and chilled lines.
Construction of the Malton Enterprise Park facility will continue through 2027 ahead of full operational commissioning in the autumn of next year.
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