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TWST: Can we begin with an introduction and update on Geest (London: GET.L)?

Mr. Pullen: Geest is a food company operating primarily in the UK, but also, increasingly, in other countries in Western Europe. Our focus is on fresh prepared foods, i.e. fresh products that we make today and will be on the shelf in your local supermarket tomorrow. They have a shelf life typically of around five or six days and they’re as good as if you made them yourselves. That’s the basic premise on which we’ve built our business, and we now have over £700 million turnover and grew last year at about 15%.

TWST: What’s the size of the fresh prepared foods market and what drivers suggest this is a good business to be in?

Mr. Pullen: The total market for fresh prepared foods is of the order of £7 billion which is about 10% of the total retail food market. That’s measuring it by value; if you measure it by volume it’s probably less than 5%. So it’s a very small part of the food market, but it is growing and has been growing consistently for some years now at much faster rates than the rest of the market. It is not that we are eating more food. We don’t want to eat more calories. If anything, we’re burning fewer calories these days as we are employed in more knowledge based jobs rather than physical jobs. But what we do want is to have someone else do a lot of the preparation for us and so we’re paying more for our food because it is more prepared. That’s the market trend that we’ve been seeing for the last 10 or 12 years and still are. The sector for example grew by about 10% last year. Within that, ready meals -- meals ready to put in the microwave such as curries, lasagnes, pasta bakes, shepherd’s pies – is a £1.3 billion market and growing at about 13 or 14%. But despite that, still less than one meal in a hundred eaten is a ready meal, so we think there’s still more growth to come.

TWST: Is R&D an important strength to have in this business?

Mr. Pullen: The ‘D’ certainly is. We don’t undertake a lot of fundamental research, but certainly we do a lot of product developments. In 2002, for example, we launched around 600 new products, which is in fact a very similar number to the last three or four years. The reason for that is similar to the premise that you would stop going to your favorite restaurant if the menu was always the same. People want to have a bit of variety when they go shopping, because shopping is a fairly boring experience for most people. You know, you buy the laundry detergent, the disposable nappies, etc. – all these things that just remind you that there are chores waiting for you. So when it comes to what you are going to have for supper that night, then there is a pleasure aspect to it. Maybe instead of the chicken tikka masala, tonight you’ll try the Goan fish curry. Even if you do end up just buying the chicken tikka masala, it is important to have the variety and choice. So development is an important part of what we do, whether it be a slight change like a different pizza topping or a completely new meal.

TWST: How would you like to see the next 12 to 18 months unfold for your company?

Mr. Pullen: We see no reason why the business shouldn’t continue to grow, both in the UK and in other countries in Western Europe where we have seen good growth, albeit off a small base. It’s our intention to keep delivering that growth and to do so in a way which finds efficiencies also to deliver earnings growth.

TWST: Which Continental European countries are you in at the moment?

Mr. Pullen: At the moment, we have a business supplying the largest food retailer in The Netherlands. We have two businesses in France, a small operation in Spain selling prepared salads, mainly leaf salads, some fruit salads, and some snack salads.