New Kettering oat mill supported by £15m finance grant
Navara is a new joint venture between crop production and grain marketing company Frontier Agriculture, farmer owned cooperative Camgrain and ingredients manufacturer Anglia Maltings Holdings.
Set for completion in 2023, the new facility is expected to create 120 new jobs – 60 during the construction phase and a further 60 to operate the new plant once complete.
Mark Aitchison, managing director of Frontier and chairman of the new joint venture said: “There’s increasing demand for oat ingredients in healthy food products and non-dairy drinks.
Dedicated oat supply chain
“Our collective vision is to build and grow a dedicated oat supply chain, bringing farmer and food manufacturer closer together and delivering improvements that benefit each sector and the environment. The support from HSBC UK has been invaluable in enabling us to bring our plans to life.”
The development of oat milling capacity in the UK has rapidly grown over the past two years.
In April 2021, Morning Foods aims to boost output over the next four years by more than 50% thanks to a major expansion of its oat milling capabilities at its site in Crewe.
Oat milling in the UK
The previous month saw Canadian agribusiness Richardson International Limited announced substantial investment at its oat mill in Bedford to boost capacity by at least 35%. Separately, Swedish oat drink firm Oatly announced the construction of its first UK factory, which it claimed would create 200 jobs.
Allan Wilkinson, UK head of Agrifoods at HSBC UK, added: “The demand for oat-based products has increased heavily due to the proven health benefits, with many switching to plant-based products as part of their diet. We’re delighted to be supporting this new venture, which brings together three of our existing clients, boosting oat production across Europe”.
Meanwhile, in other factory investment news, brewer Hepworth & Company is to install a new canning line as part of a ‘major programme of investment’ into capacity and sustainability.
