George Weston expands pie plant
The company says this will meet anticipated demand.
Hot Topic
DEALMAKERS
George Weston Foods will invest more than $5 million in new plant and equipment for its Wiri factory.
The company says this will meet anticipated demand for its expanding range of pies and sausage rolls, including two new products to be launched by the end of this month.
The factory, which employs more than 100 people, supplies Big Ben pies, as well as the Tip Top Hamburger Buns and Burgen Gluten Free bread.
Last June, the company launched Big Ben El Mexicano, which now accounts for 24% of unit sales of Big Ben’s XXL brand.
Encouraged by that success, George Weston looked at other opportunities to innovate and at what demands that would place on its existing capacity.
“Innovation is essential, even for a food category as traditional as pies,” general manager Mark Adam says.
“You can attribute Big Ben’s continuing strong performance in a hotly contested category to our willingness to try new ideas that we believe will prove popular with consumers.”
After extensive market research, the company decided to add butter chicken and lasagne pies to its Big Ben XXL range.
“Butter chicken is New Zealand’s most popular Indian dish, and when we asked Big Ben customers, 62% told us they loved the idea of a butter chicken pie.”
The choice of a second pie wasn’t so obvious.
“We know Kiwis look online for food ideas and we discovered lasagne was the seventh most searched for recipe,” he says.
“We think Kiwis will really connect with this one: it’s made to a traditional Kiwi recipe – with real beef, and lots of it.”
Nevil Gibson for NBR Food Industry Week
Wed, 01 Apr 2015
Wed, 01 Apr 2015
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
George Weston expands pie plant
46472