Pasta King acquired by Northern Ireland business entrepreneurs

Devon-based Pasta King, a provider of pasta meals to schools in the UK, has been acquired by two business entrepreneurs from Northern Ireland, Paul Allen and Michael Blaney.

Established in 1994, Pasta King employs 55 staff at its headquarters in Newton Abbot, Devon, including a country wide network of field sales managers.

Pasta King supplies over 13 million “nutritious” ‘grab and go’ meals into the primary and secondary education sector in the UK, with a growing presence in the health, leisure and care sector.

The company has a sales turnover of around £8m and operates through a network of 19 regional distribution centres to deliver chilled sauces on a daily basis. Last year, Pasta King was recognised as LACA’s (The School Food People) Outstanding Supplier of the Year 2018 within the education sector.

Allen said: “Pasta King provides meal solutions comprising mostly pasta with made to order sauces. The meals are served hot from pasta bars which are loaned to the company’s customer base.

“As a healthy and tasty food offering, Pasta King has become very popular in primary and secondary schools across the UK and satisfies government standards on salt, saturated fat and vegetable content.”