New Managing Director for the Redwood Wholefood Company

The Redwood Wholefood Company, the multi-award winning vegan food firm acquired last year by charity and animal rights campaigner Heather Mills, has appointed Nigel Phillips as managing director. He was previously MD of granoVita, the health food firm he founded in 1991.

Nigel Phillips

Mr Phillips, 52, who worked for The Haldane Group and Granose Foods for 15 years before founding granoVita, said he was absolutely delighted to be joining Redwood, a company he had ‘admired for many years’.

“Redwood has extremely strong business ethics, is at the cutting edge of food manufacturing and is 100% British,” he said. “It is widely recognised throughout the industry as one of the most innovative and inspirational vegetarian food companies around.”

Recently rated the UK’s most ethical vegetarian foods supplier for the fifth year running by The Ethical Company Organisation, Redwood produces more than 50 different foods under the Vegideli, Cheatin’ and Cheezly brand names.

Everything in its range is made from 100% natural plant-based ingredients, making them free from animal ingredients and derivatives as well as cholesterol, artificial colours/preservatives, lactose, hydrogenated fats and GMOs.

The company exports to 17 countries worldwide and manufactures all its products at its animal-free factory in Corby, Northamptonshire.

As Nigel Phillips points out, his association with Redwood goes back a long way. “I was instrumental in helping set the business up in the early 90s when I introduced the former owners to a range of meat substitutes I had discovered in Australia,” he said.

“It was granoVita’s job to introduce the products to the health food trade. Since then I have watched Redwood flourish into the leading supplier of vegan food products to the health food sector.”

While at granoVita, Nigel Phillips turned the company into a multi-million pound business, also acquiring a production site in Canada.

Prior to founding granoVita, he was sales and marketing director for Haldane Foods, where he moved the company into profit and increased sales from £3 million to £8 million in just over 15 months.

When Haldane purchased Granose Foods, Nigel became sales and marketing director of the Haldane Foods Group, which included Granose and frozen food company Vegetarian Feasts, the first company in Britain to market the Quorn products. Prior to that, he was sales and marketing director at Granose, where he increased sales from £1 million to £5.2 million.

“Nigel is an extremely experienced and professional businessman with an impressive portfolio of knowledge and skill within the health food industry,” said Heather Mills. “It is with the utmost delight and respect that I and the team at Redwood welcome him on board.”

Further information on Redwood can be found at www.redwoodfoods.co.uk .