Mondelēz have announced plans to invest over EU€30 million into its Herentals bakery factory where Belgian favourite biscuits Prince, TUC and PiM’s are made.
The new installations in the facility are expected to be operational by early 2024 and will enable the site to transform into a more modern, flexible and competitive factory all while increasing production capacity.
The investment of more than €30 million will enable the deployment of new technologies and increase the production capacity of the Herentals bakery plant, as part of a greater ambition of the company’s to grow in the European biscuit market. It is not only an upgrade and expansion of current production capacity, Mondelēz said, but a focus on increasing process expertise, safety and quality.
“This significant investment will continue the modernizing of the production installations in our Herentals facility, and create a highly efficient and robust supply infrastructure for our iconic biscuits such as Prince, Tuc and PiM’s,” said Bart De Geest, Plant Director Mondelez Herentals. “In combination with the development of our people expertise, this operation will enable the plant to develop its competitiveness, and prepares the ground for future growth of the plant.”
The investment will include the installation of a new production line for the Tuc crackers in addition to two existing cracker lines. This line will create an additional 6500 tonnes capacity to support up to 40% future growth.
A complete new production hall for the Prince biscuit will be installed and operational early 2024. The new facility will produce chocolate cream filling with the latest technology for the biscuit. This improvement in production equipment fits into the plant’s focus on developing its major core lines, which include Prince and Tuc.
In addition, the PiM’s line will be upgraded with a new cake baking unit and an upgrade of the chocolate process. The new oven will be one of the first within the company’s supply chain network in Europe to make the transition from gas to electrical energy, to reduce its total carbon emissions.
For Bastogne, new packaging equipment will be installed to create new sales opportunities. The plant will also implement new IT systems for the management of the warehouse and production system to further secure and improve production efficiency.
“With our combined expertise in biscuits and chocolate manufacturing, Herentals is one of the largest production facilities of Mondelēz International in Europe,” added Bart De Geest. “Thanks to this commitment in, we will be able to respond to the growing market demand and consolidate the plants importance within the group.”
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