Jupiter Marketing

Shropshire-based fruit distributor Jupiter Marketing has been named as one of Britain's fastest-growing private companies on the international scene.

The Sunday Times' International Track 200 ranks Britain's private companies with quickest-growing international sales, and put Jupiter Marketing in 17th place with 127.5 per cent average annual international sales growth over the past two years.

Of the company's £58.8m turnover, some £9.4m comes from the international market.

Founded in 2003 by managing director Mark Tweddle, Jupiter grows, buys and distributes fruit, and has overseas sales and procurement offices in locations including Argentina and South Africa, according to its Fasttrack profile. It also has 500 acres of vineyards across Chile, Greece and India.

Also in the list at 76th place is another Shropshire business, health food retailer Evolution Foods, which has posted 56.9 per cent average growth in international sales over the last two years. The company sells dried fruit, nuts and healthy snacks to the UK and continental Europe, with customers including Lidl and the Co-op. International sales hit £4.6m last year.

Another dried fruit importer, Cheshire-based John Morley, comes in at 88th place. The family-owned business has a product lineup including American almonds, Turkish hazelnuts and Philippine banana chips, with exports hitting £10.7m in 2016.

Packaging machinery company Proseal was 159th in the list with international sales of £24.9m and a growth rate of 32.7 per cent.