A company that began by supplying cheese to North-East pizzerias is now a worldwide exporter. Bryn Littleton meets the brother and sister team behind Prima Cheese

NOTHING stands still at Prima Cheese – it is a business that is constantly moving forward.

From the new gates that are being erected, to the forklifts ferrying enormous pallets of cheese in and out of shuttered doors while the offices fairly buzz with a busy workforce.

The same can be said of brother and sister directors Nagma Ebanks-Beni and Nima Beni, who along with their father, managing director Behroz Beni, are the driving force behind Prima’s recent success opening up a host of new overseas markets.

Spend half-an-hour with either Nagma or Nima and you soon realise that they think, talk and act quickly – Prima Cheese is not a company that is ever going to rest on its laurels as new trade links, customers and suppliers are constantly sought.

“As a family business, we can make decisions and seize on opportunities incredibly quickly,” says 29 year-old business graduate Nima.

“We have no board of directors as such to report to or rigid structure of management. If we want to do something and it makes sense for the business, then we go for it.

“This has helped us enormously when we have been working with overseas customers who understand that because of the way our business is structured, they can speak to me, Nagma or my father and know that the answer they get will be one they can act upon, because we all have the same aims and aspirations for the business.”

From a standing start, the directors of Prima Cheese have worked tirelessly to raise its profile on foreign soil, with six per cent of the past year’s business growth purely down to exports.

Prima Cheese has from 2010 to 2011 had a 28 per cent increase in turnover from £15m to £22m at the year’s end accounts in March, which equates in sheer volumes of cheese as a current shredding input of in excess of 200 tonnes of cheese a week.

Starting life in 1996 as a cheese supplier to pizzerias and take-away establishments across the North-East, Prima Cheese grew from Behroz Beni’s successful cash and carry business.

Originally based in Fishburn, County Durham, it grew steadily as its UK customer base began to develop and moved factory twice before settling at Seaham, where it now employs more than 50 people.

“We are a family business in every sense of the word,” says Nima. We are forwardthinking, but also proud of how we started.

“Our family had pizzerias in the North-East and my father supplied them with cheese from his wholesale company and we just grew from those humble beginnings.

“The company has changed dramatically in terms of output, machinery, technology and our customers, but the essence of what we do and what we produce has not really changed.”

When asked about the technicalities of production at the Prima plant, Nagma puts it in the simplest terms but, in reality, it is rather more complex: “We bring in the cheese, then we shred it, blend it, bag it, box it and distribute it.

“It sounds simple, but obviously we use industrial shredders for the amount of cheese we sell and then there is the blend – mixing the core product of mozzarella with cheddar or whatever specifications the customer has requested and then there is the logistics of shipping it overseas to consider, which is something that we had no experience of 18 months ago, but we realised that if wanted to grow the business then we had to learn about it.”

Working alongside UKTI, the directors highlighted the Middle East as a possible export market and drew up a list of potential customers.

A SCOUTING trip to Dubai followed soon afterwards, which was to provide the springboard for the company’s export success.

“We were being asked by customers for different products, different cheese, more complex work and we found ourselves at something of a crossroads,” said Nima.

“We either invest in new technology and diversify the business, or look at new markets and diversify our client base.

“The Dubai trip turned out to be a real eye-opener and out of the 17 companies we met out there, 15 expressed an interest in working with us so we knew there was a potential market place.

“Securing orders proved to be the easy part. We faced a huge learning curve learning about shipping, credit terms, export documentation – I’ll be honest, it was daunting, but we have never been afraid of hard work or working outside our comfort zone.”

Prima utilised UKTI funding to take a stand at the world’s largest food trade fair, ANUGA in Germany. Nima and Nagma travelled to the fair, which proved another success as they began to receive orders even before they had returned to England.

Bringing in outside knowledge also proved essential, Prima worked with both UKTI and the North-East Chamber of Commerce to learn more about the logistics of selling overseas.

“We sought out experts and learned from their knowledge and experience. While it did represent breaking new ground for the company, we knew that this would open up new opportunities,” said Nagma.

“We worked extremely hard to gain the knowledge and do things properly and now we are seeing rewards from the action we took.”

Neither Nagma nor Nima walked into their father’s business at director level. Both worked their way from the shopfloor.

Nima, who lived and worked in London for eight years before returning north, explains: “The first job my father gave me when I started was sweeping the floor. There were no free rides. We started at the bottom and worked our way through the ranks.

“It has definitely helped. I know every level of the business inside out and have worked alongside all the staff at one stage or another.”

A fashion design graduate, Nagma earned her entrepreneurial stars at a relatively young age. She set up and successfully ran her own restaurant in London’s trendy Islington aged only 24.

“My background is in design and marketing, but I love working in business too.

Growing the company and ensuring we continue on our upward trajectory is a key focus of mine.”

Prima Cheese exports shredded cheese not only to EU countries such as France, Malta and Spain but also non EU countries Dubai, Lebanon, Jordan, Peru, Pakistan, Iraq and South Korea, to name but a few.

THE company, a member of NECC Global – which provides discounted international trade documentation, training and support – is also one of the organisation’s Global Champions. As such, Nima has passed on her experience of selling abroad to other businesses looking to open up foreign markets.

NECC export servicesmanager Brian Dakers said: “Prima Cheese is a shining example of how North-East businesses can increase income by opening up lucrative markets overseas.

“I am grateful to both Nagma and Nima, who are incredibly passionate about North-East business and have been generous with their time speaking with other NECC members about the successes and pitfalls of exporting goods.

“I would urge any business aiming to replicate their success to utilise the support and assistance available in the region. NECC and our partners UKTI are here to help North- East firms realise their export potential and ensure the region’s impressive export performance continues.”