Sweet treats manufacturer Baker & Baker has invested almost £2.9m to install a brand-new American-style cookie line at its Wirral site.
The investment has been made over several months and was designed to increase capacity and introduce new machinery to improve quality and output of the company, adding to its two existing cookie lines.
Machinery installed includes a wire cutter, mixer and mixing bowls, and weighing hoppers. New workspaces, including washrooms as well as sieving and de-boxing areas, have also been created on the factory floor. Two bulk silos were also installed to complement the existing units on site, which contain bulk ingredients such as sugar and flour.
The investment will also see an upskilling of existing site teams to operate the new equipment, and eight new full-time positions have been created to manage the additional capacity, the manufacturer noted.
“We have extensive capabilities in manufacturing cookies across a variety of flavours and formats, and we continue to see strong demand from customers in the UK and Europe for both our own-brand and licensed cookies,” commented Baker & Baker CEO John Lindsay.
“This investment was necessary to ensure we have the requisite capacity to service customers both now and in the future, whilst maintaining the quality of product that our consumers expect,” he added.
Baker & Baker supplies a range of cookies for retail and foodservice own-label lines, along with Cadbury cookies as part of its licensing partnership with Mondelēz. The upgrade, it said, signifies the business’ continual commitment to invest in its manufacturing operations to deliver a varied range of flavours and concepts.
Sales at the business rose 8.3% for its financial year ending 31 December 2022, the latest available, but significant input cost increases forced the British arm of the European bakery supplier into the red. However, a spokesperson at the time said it delivered a “robust” performance and noted a focus on bakery segments such as American sweet bakery, which had allowed it to maximise growth opportunities.
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