Hannah Platten

Kavli UK is part of the Kavli Group. It currently employs over 220 colleagues across its two UK sites and makes a range of food products under its brands that include Kavli, Primula and Castle MacLellan. It also manufactures a range of private label products for UK supermarkets. Primula Cheese was first sold by Kavli in the UK in 1929. In 1961, it moved into a purpose-built site at Team Valley in Gateshead, where it and Primula remains to this day. Over the years, the site has been expanded and modernised creating a facility that is approved to the stringent BRC quality standards for food hygiene and manufacture. Primula now makes spreadable cheese, snacks and dips. In 1997, Kavli UK acquired the Castle MacLellan pâté business located in Kirkcudbright, South West Scotland. This business was integrated into the UK operation in a manner which retained its identity and allowed it to maintain its special links with Scottish-sourced ingredients, which has played an important role in the company’s success. More recently, Kavli group launched Kavli UK in April 2024. Kavli UK produce a range of whipped cheese products made with less ingredients to deliver more genuine flavour. The Kavli Group, which is headquartered in Norway, is fully owned by the Kavli Trust. Part of the profits from the Kavli Group are reinvested into strengthening and developing the group’s operations, while the remainder is donated via the Kavli Trust to good causes in research, culture and humanitarian work both in the UK and overseas.