Unilever has completed £40m worth of investment into its Burton site, bringing production of its entire condiments portfolio under one specialist hub.
A second “state-of-the-art” factory has been built, increasing the site’s footprint by 50% to 31,000 sq m and bringing production of Hellmann’s to the site, alongside Marmite, Bovril and Colman’s.
Investment in digital capabilities has created a “highly optimised” site, operating across nine production lines.
The new factory features automated production lines, which use real-time data capture and analysis on the factory shop floor to boost efficiency and minimise waste.
It also boasts a fully automated palletisation process, with two robotic arm palletisers and three top loading palletiser robots that pack over 1,000 pallets a day.
Unilever has also brought 3D-printing machines and capabilities in-house, so standard machine parts can be replicated and replaced at speed.
As a result of the three-year investment, volume has doubled alongside a 13% increase in total factory efficiency at the site in the last three years, according to Unilever.
The site now produces an average of nine million jars and bottles of condiments a month.
Localising production
The final-stage production of Hellmann’s 100% recycled plastic squeezy bottles – at which the basic recycled plastic material is blown into the bottle shape – has now been brought on to the site.
Localising these aspects had “significantly reduced lorries on the road and travel time from production to shelves, resulting in CO2 savings”, said Unilever.
Additionally, the investment has created 160 new jobs at the factory, with current employees developing new skills in digitised manufacturing.
Meanwhile, increased use of real-time data analysis has helped to halve the site’s food waste since 2021.
The remaining waste has been used create energy for the factory via the on-site biogas recycling plant or redistributed as feed for local farm animals.
“By bringing all our condiment production under one roof and focusing on advancing digital capabilities, we’ve really optimised our supply chain and manufacturing whilst significantly increasing the site’s capacity,” said Unilever UK & Ireland foods lead Andre Burger.
“The investment has already delivered record-breaking growth for the site and will be key in supporting the continued growth of our food business and market-leading brands here in the UK,” Burger added.
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