CSM Ingredients Group has transferred its UK headquarters across Cheshire and into a new £3m site in Ellesmere Port.
Spanning two floors and covering 15,635 sq ft of floor space, the new building houses head offices, a customer experience centre, and an NPD facility featuring a state-of-the-art test bakery.
It is located just a few miles down the Wirral Peninsula from the ingredients supplier’s previous UK headquarters in Bromborough, the site it took over from Unilever in 2000 and subsequently divided up following its separation from Baker & Baker in 2021.
CSM Ingredients had occupied its part of the building through an agreement with Baker & Baker. This has now come to an end with the sweet bakery manufacturer remaining in the location but yet to decide what to do with the vacated space.
All 45 of CSM Ingredients’ UK HQ staff have been transferred to work at the new Ellesmere Port site which is now fully operational, confirmed the company.
The £3m investment is said to mark a significant milestone for the group, strengthening its commitment to customer-centric innovation, sustainable growth, and long-term partnerships. It has been designed as a future-proofed centre of excellence with capacity for expansion, ensuring the firm is well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of customers and the wider bakery and food industry for decades to come.
In July, CSM Ingredients became a subsidiary of new Milan-based holding company Nexture along with fellow ingredients supplier HiFood (which it acquired in 2022).
“Our investment in the UK and Ireland clearly signifies the importance of the area not only for CSM Ingredients, but for the entire Nexture platform,” commented Nexture CEO Gabriele Del Torchio. “This new facility in Cheshire embodies our collective ambition to bring together craftmanship, innovation and partnerships to deliver meaningful progress for our customers and the industry at large.”
CSM Ingredients Group CEO Christian Sobolta noted how the modern equipment, the customer-focused test production environment, and the sustainable design of the workspaces will enable the business to accelerate product development and customer proximity across several food segments, “allowing us to work even closer with our partners to shape the next generation of food experiences”.
The mock production environment is described as perfect for line trials and innovation projects, the training and presentation centre is suitable for both large-scale and more intimate sessions, while a dedicated allergen-free area has been created to meet the growing demand for specialist solutions.
Furthermore, the workspaces were designed in a people-first manner, filled with natural light and featuring walls and breakout areas to encourage collaboration and creativity.
Sustainability has been embedded into the design too, with solar panels providing 15% of the site’s energy needs and EV charging points available onsite. These measures are fully aligned with the commitments reported in CSM Ingredients’ 2024 Sustainability Report, including that 80% of electricity used last year was from renewable sources (compared to 62% in 2023), with over 95% secured by Guarantees of Origin.
CSM Ingredients has its global headquarters in Luxembourg, and employs more than 1,300 workers worldwide. It operates eight manufacturing plants worldwide including in Manchester’s Old Trafford district; in Delmenhorst and Gerlenhofen, Germany; in Bischheim, France; in Parma and Crema, Italy; in Bou Argoub, Tunisia; and in Shanghai, China.
It also has innovation centres in Delmenhors and Bingen in Germany, and in Parma, while its global open innovation hub is in Tel Aviv, Israel. CSM Ingredients serves artisanal and large-scale manufacturers across the bakery, fine pastry, dairy & non-dairy, ice cream, savoury, and gluten-free industries, as well as foodservice operators and retail chains in more than 120 countries.
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