A crisp firm in the county has signed the biggest deal in its history with leading Italian restaurant chain Zizzi.

Nim's Fruit Crisps, based in Sittingbourne, is best known for its air-dried crisps but it has diversified and now landed the contract to provide tomato salad toppings to the restaurant's 140 venues in the UK and Ireland.

It now sees five tonnes of tomatoes each week go via its facility.

And such has been the initial success, it has now taken another order from the chain for air-dried orange infusions for its cocktail menu.

It has seen the firm's sales increase by 85% over the last year.

Explains founder Nimisha Raja: "Our toppings and garnishes are proving a really popular alternative to the traditional fruit and vegetables used by cafes, pubs and restaurants, not least because they are a more cost-effective alternative to dehydrating in house.

“The Zizzi contract was a big breakthrough moment for us. We’re already supplying a lot of independents and subscription services, but this was the first time we were able to work with a big chain and get a deal over the line.

“This included trialling 12 different types of tomato until we found exactly the right one that would compliment their salads perfectly. It quickly led to a second order to supply our orange infusions for use in some of their cocktails.”

“Being air-dried offers so many benefits for restaurants, including a longer shelf life than our counterparts, a great taste and aesthetically they look fantastic."

The firm now plans to build on the success with a second drying and packing line commissioned for later this year which will more than double its existing capacity.