Geary’s Bakery has opened a custom-built factory in Leicester to meet growing demand for its Jason’s Sourdough brand.
The third facility in the family-run firm’s growing portfolio – located at the same site as one of its existing bakeries in Glenfield – will double production capacity and create 380 new jobs. This represents a ‘significant’ step forward in the company’s ongoing growth strategy with Geary’s headcount to be 950 by the end of the year, nearly quadruple what it was four years ago.
The new bakery will ramp up in two phases, with phase one just opened and phase two coming on-board in September of this year.
It comes following significant success for Jason’s Sourdough which has achieved 107% value growth over the past 12 months and is now available in over 4,000 stores nationwide. The latest figures available puts the brand’s annual sales at roughly £88m. The brand now accounts for around half of the company’s turnover, with the rest made up by own label products.
Read: How Jason’s Sourdough became Britain’s fourth biggest bread brand
Jason’s Sourdough has stormed the nation, quickly rising through the ranks to become Britain’s fourth bestselling bread brand. It is closing the gap on Kingsmill currently sat in third place as well. Its range includes Ciabattin loaves, sourdough loaves, and every day rolls as well as toasties and hot rolls for foodservice operators.
However, Geary’s noted that the investment was a clear sign of the company’s ‘rapid commercial scale-up across both its branded and own-label bakery operations’ as it invests in the future growth of the premium bread segment to help drive market share for its retailer partners.
It also revealed a long-term ambition to double the size of the business in the coming years.
Jason Geary, fourth generation master baker of Geary’s Bakery, said the new facility allows the business to move to the “next chapter of our growth”.
“The demand for Jason’s Sourdough and real artisanal bread continues to grow, and we are constantly inspired by how much people love our bread. This new site enables us to get our products into more stores and in more homes – while staying true to the quality and craft that set us apart.
“This new facility is a vital part of achieving our ambition to make proper bread more accessible to more people,” he added.
Alongside site expansion, the business is continuing to invest in workforce capability, with 13 apprentices currently enrolled across bakery, engineering and operations, and eight new lead bakers being recruited.
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