Growth at Ginsters

Cornish pasty manufacturer Ginsters plans to automate a third 'pick and place' production line this year as part of a growth strategy which predicts the need for a further 500,000 products a week by 2011.

Speaking at a seminar last week organised by ABB Robotics, Tom Crawford, projects manager for Ginsters - part of the independent Samworth Brothers group - said the bakery at Callington was talking to potential suppliers for automating its L2 pick and place line. This follows a programme of automation at the site started in 2003, which has seen around £32M invested in various projects, including the automation of its L1 and L3 pick and place lines.

Ginsters produced around 3.8M pasties, sausage rolls, slices and pies a week last year representing around £240M in sales. However, while current capacity is sufficient for the next year or so, further automation was necessary to meet projected demand for its products in 2011, said Crawford. "The project this year is another huge step for us."