Demand for char-grilled pepper quarters and wedges for pizza toppings and sandwich fillings has prompted award-winning fresh and exotic ingredients specialist Beacon Foods to invest in a new machine.

The Cheftec Wedger Maestro machine enables the innovative Brecon-based company to decore and cut over 3,000 pepper pieces an hour in consistent sizes.

Apart from cutting peppers into quarters and wedges of six, the versatile machine can also be used to cut courgettes, aubergines, onions, potatoes, beetroot, apples, pears and other vegetables and fruits into specific sizes.

Produce is placed by two operators into a hand-loaded moving carousel, which indexes into a guarded cutting area. The machine was supplied by Hanrow of Newbury, a leading supplier of specialist food preparation machinery, industrial cooking equipment and mixing vessels.

Beacon Foods managing director Edward Gough said the Cheftec Wedger Maestro is ideal for producing uniform pepper cuts demanded by customers and can also be used to halve peppers.

Beacon Foods supplies the country's leading food manufacturers and food service companies with a range of more than 500 varieties of processed and cooked vegetables, fruits, pulses and herbs, including an organic range.

For on-line information about Beacon Foods visit www.beaconfoods.co.uk