Fletchers Group bakery in £1M cold store expansion
Kara, which specialises in frozen buns, rolls and doughballs for the foodservice and convenience sectors, has converted an existing building into the new store, replacing a previous facility.
The firm said the new storage area will allow greater internal efficiencies with improved operational handling, stock rotation and more accurate temperature control.
It will aid despatch to more than 300 wholesalers and end-users based in the UK, as well as countries across Europe, it claimed.
£12M programme
The Kara project by the Fletchers Group forms part of a £12M capital investment programme in 2013.
The initiative includes the £1M cold store, a £4M expansion of food manufacturing facilities at London-based Grain D’Or and the creation of a £7M production facility at the Fletchers site in Sheffield.
“Kara is consistently growing due to improving performance levels, innovative product development and the support the customer receives,” said Kara general manager Jeff Dean. “Our facilities have got to match our exacting customer standards.
‘Previous facility outdated’
“Cold storage is an essential part of the production process and our previous facility had become outdated. This is more energy efficient, enables us to handle products in a more orderly way with less movement and offers us greater efficiency in dispatching the product to third-party distributors.
“This project has allowed us to double our storage capacity to now hold up to 1,000 pallets at any one time, while retaining high levels of quality and food safety. The new facility complies with all the latest regulations and is far easier to maintain.”
Kara worked with food factory construction specialist Clegg Food Projects on the nine month project, which minimised disruption to existing storage and despatch schedules.
