Switzerland-based ARYZTA announced it has started the construction of a new bakery in Perth, Western Australia.
The total investment is estimated to be €40m ($43.7m) and the building work is expected to take two years. The facility will produce muffins, burger buns and varieties of bread. It will serve quick-service restaurants, foodservice and retail customers. It will be located in the Peel Business Park, 60km from the Perth central business district.
Aryzta said the project will create 80 jobs and another 500 indirect roles.
“This new state-of-the-art bakery is the first major bakery investment in Western Australia in the past 20 years,” Aryzta confirmed in a statement. “Population growth and continuing strong growth for bakery means that existing bakery capacity is near full utilisation.”
Interim CEO Urs Jordi said: “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.”
Aryzta added that spending on the new plant “will be accommodated with the existing capex guidance given in the mid-term plan, 3.5-4% of revenue, to ensure that all the targets outlined in the mid-term plan are delivered”.
“Business performance remains in line with expectations and on track to reiterate our confidence in delivery of our growth and financial targets,” the company said.
The food producer said the development “will significantly enhance” its ESG credentials in Australia by removing an estimated 1.7m miles involved in transporting products to customers in Western Australia from Aryzta's existing two facilities in New South Wales and Victoria.
In October, Aryzta reported its fiscal 2023 results through July. Revenue rose 20.9% on a reported basis to €2.1bn and was up 21.6% in organic terms.
EBITDA increased 57.8% to €271.3m. Net income was €112m versus a €0.9m profit a year earlier.
Commenting on the profit growth, Jordi said: "This was achieved in a period of challenging trading, with persistent inflation, cost-of-living increases, supply chain and energy costs concerns. Volume growth was supported with a doubling of the share of innovation to 11% of revenue.”
