€2 million to upgrade its Onnaing plant

The Italian food group, Barilla, invests €33 million in France.

In June, Barilla announced a plan to invest €33 million. This is in addition to the €12 million for the regular annual upgrade of its production equipment in France. Its aim is to increase the production in France of Harrys organic sandwich bread and pastries. Part of this investment will be injected directly into the Hauts-de-France region:

• Upgrading an existing production line at the Valenciennes site to expand the organic range with the launch of new pastry products (€2 million)
• Creating a “100% Mie” production line in one of the Harrys plants in France.
• 2,000m2 expansion of the site at Châteauroux

Harrys Onnaing : premium organic site, driving innovation

For ten years, the Barilla group has been moving towards an eco-responsible approach and healthier food: organic, reduced sugar/salt, additive and palm oil free products.

“This investment is also in line with our desire to reduce our carbon footprint and our decision to make Harrys 100% carbon neutral by 2020” Miloud Benaouda, President of Barilla Western Europe.

A strategy which in 2017 led to an investment of €2 million in the Harrys site at Onnaing to specialise in organic and premium products. At ground level, this allows for easy changes to recipes and volume variations at a lower cost. What’s more, the plant has 3 flexible production lines, that can be adapted to produce different product lines. These assets naturally lead Onnaing to become the pilot site. Many of the group’s innovations are tested in the Hauts-de-France before being rolled out at other production sites if they are commercially successful. This is a bonus for the regional factory which regularly benefits from new production advances and methods. For example, Harrys Onnaing is currently the only certified organic factory in France.

The Barilla Group in France

France is the group’s 2nd largest country in terms of industrial facilities. It has 5 production sites (out of 29 worldwide) and 1,500 employees. It ranks 3rd in the market. In France, the group is more developed in the bread and bakery sector than the pasta sector. Sources: les Echos, LSA, Usine Nouvelle