KP Snacks invests £6m in Pom Bear factory

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The Billingham site makes Pom Bear snacks, as well as Hula Hoops Puft and McCoy's crisps

KP Snacks aims to create 20 jobs as it pumps £6m into a new pellet production facility at its Billingham factory in Teesside, which makes Pom Bear, Hula Hoops Puft and McCoy's brands. The news heads Food Manufacture’s latest of our Editor’s Spotlight newsletters, which are published every Tuesday and Thursday and highlight hot topics in the food and drink manufacturing sector.

Construction has begun at the Billingham site, with a view to it being fully operational in September 2019. The investment will enable the company to produce some of the ingredients used to make Pom Bear and Hula Hoops Puft.

“This is an exciting time for Teesside, which is KP’s biggest site employing over 700 people,” said Lee Appleby, factory general manager at KP Snacks Teesside.

50th birthday

“The pellet plant will create over 20 new positions in a number of different roles, including production, supply chain, engineering and hygiene at both manager and team member levels. It’s a great year for this most recent investment to be taking place as Teesside celebrates its 50th birthday in 2019.”

Intersnack subsidiary KP snacks acquired potato starch snack brand Popchips from US parent company Popchips Inc in July. KP Snacks chief executive officer Mark Thorpe said at the time: “The deal brings together the fastest growing snack brand in the UK market and the fastest growing scale snacks manufacturer …”

Less than three months before the agreement was announced, KP Snacks disclosed that it had acquired crisps and popcorn maker Tyrrells Potato Crisps from confectionery giant The Hershey Company. The sale included Tyrrells’ head office, two UK factories, its US manufacturing operations and its subsidiaries.