A FROZEN foods firm has unveiled a new £350,000 product development centre.

Trowbridge-based apetito has completed work on the development centre at its Canal Road base, which will help design a new range of products to capitalise on recent successes.

The firm, which employs 1,500 people across the UK with 600 staff based in Trowbridge, hopes to build on last year when it won the HSBC business of the year award.

Staff were given a two-week bonus last month after the firm announced a £71m turnover in 2004.

The facility will see a number of chefs working at the centre on all products, with particular emphasis being placed on the Foodservice division, which specialises in ready-to-bake pies and pastries, as well as traditional dishes such as beef hotpot and chicken casserole.

Development chef Claire Tollit explained the need for the facility.

She said: "Increased space and modern facilities within this new centre will really enable apetito to maintain its competitive edge on the market."

The company, which is one of the leading suppliers of Meals on Wheels to the elderly in the UK, has introduced 100 new products into the market in the past year and could expand further with the introduction of the new centre. Sales were boosted by 20 per cent last year five times that of the average frozen food manufacturers growth.

apetito healthcare divisional manager Rosemarie Hoyle said: "The state-of-the-art development centre will be used to focus on developing new meals for the community as well as modifying and improving existing meals

"In apetito's healthcare division, meals developed in the new centre will be implemented into hospital menus throughout the country.

"We have understood what is needed by hospital caterers and their patients and the new centre will be crucial in continuing to develop new tasty products to suit their needs."