New oat processing plant to create 60 jobs
The development is the initiative of ‘Navara Oat Milling’, a new joint venture between three organisations – crop production and grain marketing company Frontier Agriculture, farmer-owned cooperative Camgrain and food and drink ingredient manufacturer Anglia Maltings Holdings (AMH).
Set for completion in 2023, the new site will be built alongside Camgrain’s existing processing centre in Northants – a ‘key arable region’ between Corby and Kettering. Navara said this location would help minimise food miles and would be easy to access by food and drink manufacturers who use cereal-based ingredients.
Oats, the answer
AMH group finance director George Thompson said: “The joint venture is launching at a time when the importance of nutritious, plant-based ingredients has become more widely recognised. Provenance and sustainability are part of that agenda and domestically grown and processed oats are part of the answer.
“With its brand new, purpose built facility, Navara Oat Milling will be well positioned to support food and drinks manufacturers by providing consumers with healthy and nutritious choices.”
Mark Aitchison, managing director of Frontier and chairman of the new joint venture said the investment would help meet the growing demand for oat ingredients in healthy food products and non-dairy drinks.
Closing the distance
“Our collective vision is to build and grow a dedicated oat supply chain, bringing farmer and food manufacturer closer together and delivering improvements that benefit each sector and the environment,” he added.
“Navara will create supply chain efficiency and the food and drink industries will benefit from the investments we’ll make not just in processing but also in growing oats. Collaboration with farmers supplying the new mill will see value added in areas such as agronomy advice, seed variety choice and development, quality and sustainability.”
UK construction and project manager T H White will be the main construction contractor for the project. Construction of the plant will provide an additional 120 jobs – 60 during construction and 60 to operate the plant once complete.
