Bernard Matthews Foods Limited is a British farming and food products business which specialises in turkey products.
Founded by Bernard Matthews in 1950, it has 56 farms throughout Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire farming nearly 7 million turkeys each year. It also has poultry production operations in Derby and Sunderland. The company breeds and rears both indoor and free range turkeys on its farms, and is an integrated agricultural business.
The company was founded in 1950 by Bernard Matthews from his home with his wife, twenty turkey eggs and an incubator.
In 1955, its headquarters were moved to Great Witchingham Hall near Norwich. Bernard Matthews entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1960 as the biggest turkey farmer in Europe. In 1971, the company was publicly listed.
In 1980, they launched their first TV commercial featuring Turkey Breast Roast, with Matthews himself introducing the famous 'Bootiful' catchphrase in his thick Norfolk accent. Bernard Matthews successfully fought off a take-over bid from US food giant Sara Lee in 2000. The following year, the company was bought back by the Matthews family and made private again.
Contract workers were convicted of animal cruelty in 2006 for playing 'baseball' with live turkeys. There were further troubles in 2007, when the company's farm in Holton suffered an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. The same year, the company's factory B plant closed, with staff moved to A plant, causing many to leave or be relocated at its parent plant up the road.
By July 2008, the company had re-branded itself from Bernard Matthews Foods to Bernard Matthews Farms, and stated that all its turkey products would be made with British turkey from its own farms. The company also unveiled a plan to reposition the company comprising three key elements: refocusing on British Turkey farming and production, making products that claim to better meet the needs of consumers today, and championing British agriculture.
In January 2010, Bernard Matthews resigned from the post of chairman, coinciding with his 80th birthday. In April that year, the company began a new advertising campaign, bringing back its 'Bootiful' catchphrase that had previously been used between 1980 and 2007. On 25 November 2010, founder Bernard Matthews died.
The business was bought out by turnaround experts, Rutland Partners in September 2013. In September 2016, the company was sold to an investment company owned by Ranjit Singh Boparan for £87.5 million.
In 2024, Bernard Matthews closed its headquarters in Great Witchingham after 69 years.
Bernard Matthews has four main operating sites within the UK: Great Witchingham (Norfolk), Holton (Suffolk), Derby (Derbyshire) and
Bernard Matthews Limited is based in the East of England and produces a range of fresh, cooked and frozen turkey products which it sells across the UK. It employs around 2,200 staff and farms around 7 million turkeys per annum. It has 56 turkey farms and two production sites located in Norfolk and Suffolk. Bernard Matthews Limited is Assured Food Standards (Red Tractor) accredited and its production sites have ISO 14001 accreditation.
The Derby and Sunderland sites joined Bernard Matthews in October 2021.
In 2024, Bernard Matthews announced the closure of its site at Great Witchingham.
Bernard Matthews Oldenburg is based in the north of Germany. It produces a range of fresh, cooked and frozen poultry products which it sells across Germany and northern Europe. The operation was sold to Sprehe group in July 2016 for £11.9 million and still operates under the Bernard Matthews brand.
SáGa Foods is based in northwest Hungary and employs around 800 staff. It produces a range of poultry products which it sells across Central Europe. It was part of the Bernard Matthews group from 2003 until January 2020 when the business was sold to Mastergood, a Hungarian poultry producer.
The company produces a range of cooked, fresh and frozen British turkey, including products such as oven-ready whole birds, joints, cooked re-formed meats, and meal accompaniments, which accounts for over 90% of the business. Bernard Matthews also produces chicken products which are made with meat sourced from partners in South America. Fish was another product in the 1990s and 2000s, branded as Golden Fishies, before being discontinued.
Bernard Matthews Farms produces turkey for leading UK grocery supermarket chains for use under their own retail brands, and also for businesses supplying the out-of-home foodservice market.