A Gwynedd-based fruit and veg wholesaler has installed a new solar panel array and two electric vehicle charging points at its warehouse.

Bwydydd Oren Foods, on the Griffin Industrial Estate near Penrhyndeudraeth, was able to install the 60MWh solar panel array and electric vehicle charging points after receiving a £60,000 loan from the Development Bank of Wales.

The company, which was started by Dei and Cheryl Jones as DJ Fruit in Criccieth in the early 1980s, has grown over the years and is now run by their son, Gethin, from its warehouse on the Griffin Industrial Estate.

Bwydydd Oren Foods provides fresh produce to businesses, local authorities and retail customers throughout North and Mid-Wales.

The company has 12 delivery vans and supplies a number of private and public sector customers, including hotels, shops and local authorities.

Because of the business's reliance on transportation to sell its produce, Gethin was keen to find a more sustainable way of running his fleet.

The loan will allow the company to start switching to electric vehicles.

Gethin said: "We’ve grown over the years because we’ve always taken a long-term view of our business, and we’ve always tried to be sustainable.

"Not just because it’s good for the environment, but also because it can cut costs and allow us to pass those savings on to our customers.

"Like a lot of businesses, making the switch to greener energy and solar panels were an obvious next step for us, but we didn’t have the resources needed to make that change.

"The support we’ve had from the Development Bank of Wales via the Green Business Loan Scheme has been great.

"It’s a cost-neutral step in the short term, and will pay off in the long term because we’ll be able to power our fleet sustainably and pay less for our energy."

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He added: "When we first installed the panels, I wasn’t sure how much extra energy we’d get in order to power those electric vehicles we already have, but when the sun is out, we can charge them to the point where around 300 miles per vehicle per week is powered by solar energy."

Andrea Richardson, senior portfolio executive at the Development Bank of Wales, said: "Working with Gethin and everyone at Oren Foods was a pleasure.

"They’re a successful business with strong local roots, supplying fresh food to satisfied customers across North Wales.

"Like many businesses with their energy demands, they’d been looking to make the switch to alternative forms of energy for some time, and the Green Business Loan provided the support they needed."