Franco and Caroline Beer, Boka Founders outside their new £2m factory

Source: Boka Foods

Boka founders Franco and Caroline Beer launched the business in 2016

Cereal bar brand Boka has invested more than £2m into building its own manufacturing facility in Winchester.

The Hampshire factory has the capability to produce 21 million bars a year, with scope to add another line if required.

It is 100% nut-free, which has allowed Boka to introduce the claim to packs of its 30g snack bars: Apple & Cinnamon, Strawberry, Choco Mallow and Caramel.

Boka, which debuted its range of low-sugar snack bars in 2016, unexpectedly lost its main co-packer in 2022. Since then, it had struggled to find a suitable operator that could produce its cold-pressed bars.

“We couldn’t find a manufacturer that could produce our Boka bars to a high enough standard, so we decided we’d do it ourselves,” said Boka founder Franco Beer.

“Converting a warehouse into a fully functioning, Salsa-approved factory in the space of seven months has been a real labour of love, but we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved,” Beer added. 

He has hired 17 team members to help operate and run the factory. As a result, Boka now controlled the “whole manufacturing process”, allowing it “to produce exceptional quality bars, as well as ramping up our innovation pipeline”, according to Beer.

“It also gives us capacity to co-pack for other food brands. This is an area I am keen to explore as I know how difficult it is finding a manufacturer with the skills to be able to make consistently good-quality bars at the right price.”