ARYZTA announces that it has formally agreed to proceed with the construction and commissioning of a new bakery in Perth, Western Australia. The total investment is estimated to be around EUR 40 million. The project will take two years to complete once construction starts.
The new facility will serve quick service restaurants, food service and retail customers from its site located in Peel Business Park. ARYZTA will hire 80 additional employees and estimates there will be over 500 indirect employment opportunities in the Perth area.
This new, state-of-the-art bakery is the first major bakery investment in Western Australia in the past 20 years. Its current operations are nearly at full capacity and the new facility will keep up with population growth and continued, strong market growth in the region.
“This development will significantly enhance ARYZTA’s ESG credentials in Australia by removing an estimated 1.7 million food miles currently involved in transporting bakery items to customers in Western Australia from ARYZTA’s existing two facilities in New South Wales and Victoria,” the company underlines. The investment will lower ARYZTA local carbon footprint by over 700 tons of CO2 annually while the availability of high-quality local raw materials for bakery such as flour, dairy and sugar in Australia will also minimize food miles and enhance sustainability further.
In addition, the new facility will be largely powered by a local renewable microgrid, which sources its energy from a solar and battery storage system.
ARYZTA AG Chair and Interim CEO, Urs Jordi, commented: “Australia is an attractive growth market for bakery products and this expansion in Perth will allow ARYZTA to produce fresh and frozen products as opposed to shipping frozen only over long distances from our plants in eastern Australia. The project has very strong sustainability credentials and will generate additional direct and indirect employment. It will reduce food miles and use renewable energy. The €40m investment capex will be funded within our 3.5-4% revenue guidance in our midterm plan to ensure we continue to generate cash and reduce total debt below 3x by 2025. Business performance remains in line with expectations and on track to reiterate our confidence in delivery of our growth and financial targets.”
Photo: ARYZTA
