German food giant Dr Oetker has invested GBP30m (US$39m) in a facility in north west England.
The Ristorante brand frozen pizza maker revealed that the investment in its facility in Leyland, Lancashire, will double its production capacity there. A new frozen production line has been installed at the site to produce its Chicago Town Deep Dish pizzas.
The investment money will also be used to create new raw materials storage capacity and to introduce new technology which will result in faster and more efficient freezing.
A planning application is already in for further expansion with Dr Oetker predicting that another 120 roles will be created once this second stage of development is complete. Currently 440 people work at the facility.
Georg Heerdegen Parsbo, managing director at Dr Oetker UK, said: “Dr Oetker is incredibly proud of our world-class facility and our new investment means we can continue to meet the demands for our great tasting pizzas both here in the UK and overseas.”
Dr Oetker acquired the frozen pizza facility from Schwans UK in 2009.
