Consolidation and environmentally friendly packaging will be core focuses for Kerrygold next year, according to md Carl Ravenhall.
“2009 will be a period of consolidation,” said Ravenhall. “We need to get everything settled and running efficiently.” He said the company aimed to improve production line speeds by shaving time off each stage of the process, helped by the design of a new, eco-friendly factory in Leek, Staffordshire. “We work very closely with planning departments to make sure we get optimum run lengths.”
Kerrygold claimed the £30M Leek plant, the construction of which has been managed by Clegg Food Projects, would enable it to cut its carbon footprint by 15%. Completion of the project was on track for the end of the first quarter of 2009, said Ravenhall.
“We have moved all lines across and transferred all business in the past couple of weeks. Now we’re on to phase two: demolishing the old [adjacent] site. We continue into Q1 next year on budget and on time.”
Kerrygold had eliminated the time taken to change packaging film reels by investing in kit with multiple reels for packaging film, so that as one reel ran out, another kicked in, he said.
The dairy manufacturer was working on several eco-friendly packaging initiatives, including changing pack shapes and reducing packaging weight to cut the amount of packaging it used. It was also transporting products in recycled cardboard.