Premier Foods, one of the UK’s largest food businesses, today (Sept 22) unveiled a £19 million investment in its Lifton site in Devon, home of Ambrosia custard for more than a century, to increase production capacity in response to growth in consumer demand, improve efficiency and support local jobs.
The three-year investment, which comes as part of Premier Foods’ growth strategy to invest back into its manufacturing sites, is set to be delivered in two phases.
The first £9 million stage has modernised Ambrosia rice pudding and custard production through a new custard filling line and high-speed packing lines using cutting edge technology to streamline production, increase efficiency and switch to fully recyclable packaging.
A second £10 million phase, including a small factory extension, which will house a new custard-making plant, is now underway and due to be completed next summer.
The increased efficiency delivered by the investments, frees up significant capacity elsewhere on site to support growing consumer demand for Ambrosia porridge pots.
Furthering the goals of Premier Foods’ Enriching Life Plan, the new high-speed process will also reduce energy use by 50% compared to traditional cooking methods and move our custard and rice pudding pots to recyclable packaging.
The Lifton site has been part of the local community since 1917, currently employing more than 320 people and producing 65 million kgs of custard and rice pudding each year, using over 50 million litres of milk from West country farms.
Lifton is proud of its relationships with the local community. It is home to over a dozen apprentices across roles spanning Engineering, Technical and New Product Development teams, alongside more than 70 employees with over 25 years’ service – including local families with up to four generations working as part of the team.
Colleagues from the site also support local good causes working on inclusion, skills development and local environmental quality. Recent examples include a partnership with the Westcountry Rivers’ Trust on monitoring and improving the health of the River Lyd, which runs past the site, and with local schools on careers advice for students.
Rachel Matheson, Factory General Manager at Premier Foods Lifton site, said, “This investment shows how committed we are to Lifton and to keeping our manufacturing here in the UK.
"Ambrosia is one of Britain’s most loved food brands, and we’re proud to keep making it right here in Devon. The porridge pots have been a huge hit, and it’s great to see how success like this enables us to reinvest in the site, back into our teams and in increased capacity. Our site has been part of the Lifton community for over 100 years and we’re just as excited about what’s coming next.”
The investment programme is being led by the site project team, however the transformation involves every person on site. Ben Palmer, one of the Production Managers, explains what this means to the site and the people who work there.
Ben said, “My father worked here most of his working life and growing up, I remember him talking proudly about being part of the making of such a well-loved brand.
"Now I’m helping to lead the next generation of investment and development at the same site; it’s a full-circle moment and shows just how much our factory and our famous brands mean to the people who work here and the wider community.”