The Cornish biscuit brand bought a 36.6m-long steel band oven for £400,000. Production has now been increased by 20%, with a capacity of up to 300 biscuit bakes a minute.
The purchase represents the first stage of the company’s investment programme, aimed at improving efficiency and driving growth.
Energy efficient
The oven, stretching one metre wide, was made by Danish company Haas-Meincke. It uses touch-screen technology to adjust temperature and is more energy efficient than the company’s previous oven.
Furniss Biscuits, owned by pasty-maker Proper Cornish, had used an oven which did not adjust quickly enough for different types of bake. The flexible nature of Haas-Meincke ovens meant consistency improved in the brands county-wide famous biscuits.
Furniss Biscuits operations director Gerald Allen said: “Staff are completely on board and feel it has really revolutionised the business.
‘Continue our innovation’
“Our production capacity and efficiency is improving as we progress with investment in the brand and continue our innovation in the biscuit sector.”
The next stage of the investment plan was to install wire cuts and rotary mould systems. The brand, which first started baking in 1886, will further increase the number of biscuits that can be made.
Furniss Biscuits new oven – at a glance
- 36.6m long
- 1m wide
- Touch screen, state-of-the-art technology