A BIDDING war is expected to break out later this month when one of the area’s largest employers goes up for sale.

The owner of meat-free food maker Quorn Foods is expected to demand at least £500m for the firm which employs more than 650 people at factories in Stokesley and Billingham.

Quorn, which is advertised by athletics champion Mo Farah, has grown rapidly since it was taken over by private equity firm Exponent in 2011 for about £200m.

Bosses at Exponent have remained tight-lipped following reports of a possible sell-off but a spokesperson told the Darlington & Stockton Times the initial stages of the sales process are about to begin.

US food company Hain Celestial, which has bought British brands such as The Covent Garden Soup Company; McCain; Nomad Foods, and KitKat maker Nestle, have been named by industry insiders as potential bidders.

Demand for Quorn’s range of meat-free burgers, sausages and mince has surged this year, with overall sales growing by 7 per cent over the last six months, at a time when most food manufacturers are seeing flat sales.

The company has been investing heavily in its UK factories which includes £30m at the Billingham plant, where it makes about 22,000 tonnes of mycoprotein per year, the main ingredient of Quorn products.

The food maker continues to perform particularly well in the US where year-on-year sales are up 30 per cent. It aims to build an American operation three times its current size by 2020.

Kevin Brennan, chief executive of Quorn Foods, said: “There is a growing trend towards meat reduction around the world and as more consumers turn to alternative sources of protein, Quorn has seen a growth in sales globally.

“The US market in particular is waking up to the opportunity beyond meat free burgers, which is great news for us as our existing range of products is second to none, both in terms of the breadth and quality of our offering. And we’ve got plenty more new products in the pipeline too, as we‘re always looking to bring something new and exciting to the market.”

Developed in the 1960s amid fears of a shortage in protein-rich foods, Quorn as a retail product was first produced in 1985 by Marlow Foods.