The new factory production line will produce an additional 100M tea bags at speeds of 350 tea bags a minute.
The investment means Wessanen now produces its Dutch tea brand Piramide – a specialist organic tea brand – at the site and will also support the growth of its Clipper Tea brand.
In order to produce the Piramide Range at Beaminster, the factory team needed to source 54 new ingredients and taste over 100 litres of tea to match or improve the recipes. The range of 88 organic teas and infusions will be shipped out to the Netherlands once produced.
Overall expansion plans
The extra capacity and capability that the new production line brings is part of the company’s overall expansion plans to develop the tea factory into what it calls a Centre of Tea Excellence.
Daniel Parr, Wessanen UK project manager for Piramide insourcing and head of technical and research and development, said: “We have an excellent and passionate team at Wessanen UK that has worked tirelessly together with our Piramide friends and colleagues to make this a success.
“It has been a complex project to improve and integrate such a wide range of excellent quality organic teas and infusions into the Beaminster site and we are very pleased with what we’ve achieved.”
Tony Buckton, Wessanen UK factory manager, added: “This new tea line supports the incredible growth we’re seeing for tea and infusions across Europe.
‘Centre of Tea Excellence’
“The decision to invest in the Beaminster factory, here in Dorset, is aligned with Wessanen’s ambition to make the factory their ‘Centre of Tea Excellence’ across all their brands.”
The extra capacity and capability that Wessanen’s new production line brings is part of its overall expansion plans to develop the tea factory.
Earlier this year, the company started a major redevelopment project to consolidate its factory operations on to one site.
Meanwhile, Clipper Teas bagged a top trophy in the food and drink manufacturing industry’s Oscars – the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards at The Hilton on Park Lane in London last November.