Stag Bakeries completes £525k investment

20-Jun-2016 - Last updated on 21-Jun-2016 at 15:51 GMT

Stag Bakeries' investment will boost production by 50%

Scottish family-owned Stag Bakeries has completed a £525,000 expansion of its production plant, warehouse and office space.

The family-owned bakery, based in Stornoway, spent about £250,000 on new machinery. The investment was designed to lead to a bigger range of products and more efficient new product development, said the business.

An additional £275,000 was invested in an extra 350m² of warehouse and office space.

The bakery’s general manager Donnie Matheson said: “We bought a Rondo Smartline and Starline with the investment; machinery for our biscuit production.”

The Smartline was used for the preparation of dough, while the Starline was used to decorate food products.

‘Increases production by 50%’

“That’s an upgrade from what we had before, and increases production by 50%,” said Matheson. “It also means we can reduce the staff required in the process, too.”

Producing both sweet and savoury biscuits, including some from seaweed, the business reported big sales increases over recent years. Sales have climbed from 50,000 units per year, to about 600,000 per year.

The business was aiming for another 25% increase in sales this financial year, added Matheson.

Maintaining sales growth

Stag Bakeries owner Charlie MacDonald said the expansion was vital to maintain growing sales.

“For many years we have had a very healthy trade in the Scottish islands providing a range of freshly baked goods,” said MacDonald.

“Stag has experienced exceptional sales growth in recent years, especially in the ambient biscuit range. In order for us to maintain efficiencies and plan for future growth and sales opportunities we identified that we needed to create additional space at the bakery.”

Stag announced four new fresh products earlier this month. Those included: Rocky Road, Paradise Slice, Apple and Toffee Slice, and Traditional Flapjack, which are available from local retailers. The bakery supplied more than 200 different products.

“We operate in a very competitive market, so it is vital that we remain innovative and work hard on developing the bakery to remain ahead of the game,” said MacDonald.

Stag Bakeries first announced the investment three years ago.