Thursday, March 23, 2023

We are excited to announce plans to invest over €30 million into our Herentals bakery factory, where some of Belgian’s beloved biscuits — Prince, TUC and PiM’s — are made. The new installations should be operational early 2024 and will enable the site to transform into a more modern, flexible and competitive factory, while increasing the production capacity. With this investment, we reaffirm our commitment in the bakery expertise of the factory.

The investment of more than €30 million will enable the deployment of new technologies and will increase the production capacity of the Herentals bakery plant to serve the group's growth ambition in the European biscuit market. The objective is not only an upgrade and expansion of the current production capacity, but also a focus on increasing process expertise, safety and quality.

“This significant investment will continue the modernizing of the production installations in our Herentals facility, and create a highly efficient and robust supply infrastructure for our iconic biscuits such as Prince, Tuc and PiM’s," said Bart De Geest, Plant Director Mondelez Herentals. "In combination with the development of our people expertise, this operation will enable the plant to develop its competitiveness, and prepares the ground for future growth of the plant.”

Investment in machinery with focus on the plant’s core production lines

The investment will include the installation of a new production line for TUC crackers, additional to the two existing cracker lines. This new line will create an additional +6,500 tons capacity for TUC, available to support up to +40% future growth.

At the same time, a complete new production hall for the Prince biscuit will be installed and become operational early 2024. This new facility will produce chocolate cream filling with the latest technology for the popular Prince biscuit. This significant improvement in production equipment fits into the plant's focus on the development of its major 'core' lines Prince and TUC.

Alongside these investments, the iconic PiM's line will be upgraded with a new cake baking unit and an upgrade of the chocolate process. The new PiM’s oven will be one of the first ones within the company’s supply chain network in Europe to make the transition from gas to electrical energy, supporting our commitment to reduce carbon emissions in our manufacturing processes.

For Bastogne, new packaging equipment will be installed to create new sales opportunities. The plant will also implement new IT systems for the management of the warehouse and production system to further secure and improve production efficiency.

"With our combined expertise in biscuits and chocolate manufacturing, Herentals is one of the largest production facilities of Mondelēz International in Europe," remarks Bart De Geest. "Thanks to this commitment in, we will be able to respond to the growing market demand and consolidate the plants importance within the group."