26 April 2007 - Sweden's third largest bread producer Polarbröd is planning to invest in its production capacity at its facility in Omne, north Sweden.
In a statement sent to FLEXNEWS, the maker of Polar bread said increasing demand in Europe was the driving factor of the investment plan, which will firstly consist of doubling the production capacity of brown whole grain bread in Omne in order to reach 22,000 tons per year. Secondly, additional staff will be hired to help manage the extra capacity.
"We have to recruit 8 more people during the next 12 months. Today we have 71 employees, working 4 shifts", said Polarbröd's local manager at Omne, Carl Gustaf Nordin.
Besides the Omne plant, investments will be carried out in other locations.
Polarbröd's export manager, Thomas Hedberg, says: "We will put a lot of our effort in Great Britain, Ireland, Russia and Belgium during this year. USA is another market that we are in progress to enter".
Polarbröd, which has a 14.5% share of the Swedish bread market, has been strengthening its export markets over the last few years. The company mainly exports to Norway, France, the UK and Ireland.
The bakery firm recorded a total turnover of SEK 623 million (about 67.7 million euro) in 2006. Polarbröd, with a workforce of about 371, has 3 bakeries in Sweden (Älvsbyn, Bredbyn and Omne), which produced a total of 35,000 tons of bread in 2006.