Mondelez pumps $100m into new Czech biscuit factory
The company plans to take on 200 new staff at the plant based in the city of Opava, close to the Polish border.
Mondelez said in a statement: “Since 2009, net revenues for Oreo and belVita have grown 25% and 18% respectively in Europe. This plant will create new capacity to allow the business to keep pace with future demand.”
The factory will be primarily supply the European market, including the Czech and Slovak Republic.
Biscuit category growth
The $100m outlay builds on $240 million investment across the firm’s European biscuits network since 2010, including facilities in France, the UK and Central Europe.
In its third quarter (Q3) results, Mondelez said that that the global biscuit category had grown 5.5% year-to-date. However, the growth had slowed compared to an increase of 7.4% last year.
Czech biscuit market
The Czech biscuit category is dominated by Mondelez’s Opavia-LU business with a 69% share of retail value sales in 2012, according to Euromonitor International.
Euromonitor expects the Czech biscuit category to register an annual 2% increase in retail volume sales over the coming years.
It said that Czech consumers desired more health and wellness options such as whole grain, reduced sugar products and biscuits with fruit pieces. The premium private label category has already responded strongly to this trend, it said.
Mondelez’s new plant is expected to be fully operational in 2015.
