Unilever is investing in its Poland food factory in the city of Poznań to increase the output of its ramen noodles brands.
The global FMCG giant is channelling “almost” 90 million zlotys ($20.8m) into the facility to add a new production line for its Knorr, Unox and Amino brands of noodles, according to a statement.
Unilever said automation will be included in the project, enabling the plant to produce 600,000 packs of noodles a day for distribution in Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands and other “selected” European countries.
Poznań, dedicated to food under the company’s nutrition business division, is one of three Unilever factories in the eastern European country. It also has an operations centre in the city of Katowice and a site in Bydgoszcz, which produces home and personal-care products.
“The investment in Poznań will help us continue to respond to the growing demands of the European market,” Hanneke Faber, the president of the nutrition business unit, said. “Moreover, our Polish food business is also strengthening its position.”
Unilever does not break down sales numbers for individual emerging-market countries but the geographical area is a key growth focus for the company.
Underlying sales growth (USG) in the first half of its latest fiscal year – reported in July – for emerging markets was 10.6%, outpacing the group rate of 9.1%. USG for the global nutrition division was 10.4%.
Worldwide turnover for the company as a whole was €30.4bn ($32.6bn) in the six months.
The new production line at Poznań will be added with sustainability in mind, including “optimising” energy and water consumption.
Przemysław Fejfer, the director of the factory, added: “Our Poznań factory is one of the largest food production plants in Unilever. Thanks to further investments, we will be able to respond even more effectively to the needs of our customers and continue to develop our business.”
Across the border from Poland in Ukraine, Unilever announced in March it was investing €20m in a new factory for personal-care products in Kiev Oblast.
However, the company has come under fire for its continued presence in Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In July, Unilever was added to the “international sponsors of war” list of Ukraine’s National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP).
FMCG peer Mondelez International is also on the list, while PepsiCo and Mars were added this month.
