Kara, the foodservice arm of Finsbury Food Group, has invested over £1 million in a new production plant at its Manchester site.
The funds have been used to install a new doughball plant, which is expected to increase the site’s capacity by 30%, and spent on freezer capability.
Specifically, the investment includes a new freezer, feeding system, product conveyors, check weigher, metal detector and hand-packing station.
According to Finsbury Food Group, structural improvements have also been made to the building fabric, such as replacing the floor area and installing energy-efficient LED lighting.
Alongside the increased manufacturing capacity, the changes are expected to reduce the amount of downtime and product wastage at the site.
“With much of Kara’s customer base closing during the lockdown, the past few months have been a challenging period both for Kara and the Finsbury Food Group,” said Jon Cooper, business unit director at Finsbury Food Group.
“It did, however, provide us with the perfect time to completely install and commission the new plant. This new installation protects and significantly increases our manufacturing capacity and importantly brings about less manual handling. We have already seen improved product quality and consistency.”
Cooper added: “This investment has come at an important time. Doughballs have been identified as an increasingly important range within our product portfolio. We know that many foodservice operators and wholesalers are looking at menu shrinkage and switching to ingredients that offer multi-use.
“Our doughballs are sufficiently versatile to be used across all day parts and in a cross-section of dishes and cuisine types.”
Kara recently invested over £1 million at the Manchester site to bolster the efficiency of its Lanham line, where it produces floured baps and seeded deli rolls.
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