A FOOD and drink firm expects to toast further success as demand for its products fuels an international expansion.

Besos Food and Drink says turnover could hit as high as £1.5m this year as it extends from a Barnard Castle operation to Shildon, County Durham, and seeks global growth.

The business focuses upon a range of products, including liqueurs, milk and a vegan milk chocolate.

Its goods derive from the tiger nut, a tuber harvested from the roots of the tiger sedge, a plant grown and farmed in Seville, Spain, and managing director Peter Smith is now working with the Department for International Trade on plans to open Besos bases in New York, New Zealand, Germany and Israel.

Describing the business’ foundation as a happy accident, he has worked with enterprise agency NBSL, via the North-East Business Support Fund – part financed by the England European Regional Development Fund – to launch a website and programme of digital marketing to raise awareness of its goods.

He said: “My wife and I had lived in Spain for 22 years and suddenly she suffered a heart attack.

“She was placed on a strict diet, with regulated alcohol.

“One night she requested a brandy, which I got her, but when she asked for another, I decided to add a little of the Spanish drink Horchata, made from the tiger nut.

“It was delicious, and an idea was born.

“I made it for a few people and they all thought it was incredible, so I took it to a huge conglomeration in Spain to try and sell it.

“The chap I spoke to said I was wasting my time as they get hundreds of people contacting them every day.

“I convinced him to taste it, and he works for me now.”

Mr Smith put Besos Food and Drink into production and it made 1,800 bottles of the liqueur Besos de Oro, translated as Golden Kisses, in the first year, which equated to a turnover of £22,000.

However, such was the appetite for the product, that grew to £202,000 in the second year and should a potential deal prove successful, it will rise to £1.5m this year.

But Mr Smith isn’t resting on its laurels.

He has created three distinct elements of the business, the liqueur operation, which is available in different flavours like mint and orange; tiger nut milk production; and a new product described as a world first: vegan milk chocolate.

Mr Smith is also quick to recognise the role NBSL has played in the company’s growth.

He said: “Very few organisations want to help small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) until they’re viable and established, but NBSL is not like that.”

NBSL has just launched the new North-East Business Support Fund (NEBSF), which focuses funding on County Durham and is forecast to help 620 businesses, creating around 230 jobs.

Jonathan Barnes, NBSL funding adviser, said: “Besos Food and Drink is incredible and I’m proud that NBSL could provide them with such beneficial support.”