Mondelēz’s Big Move: Boosting Biscuit Production with Automation

Mondelēz International just dropped a cool $13 million on a brand new automated packaging line at its Gourmet Food manufacturing spot in Dandenong, Victoria. This new setup is boosting the production of Olina’s Bakehouse Artisan crackers by a whopping 35 per cent!

Back in 2021, Mondelēz took over the business from Gourmet Food Holdings, the folks who shook up the cracker scene with their fancy cracker brands like Olina’s Bakehouse, OB Finest, and Crispic. Gourmet Food Holdings splashed out $10 million to build a massive 12,500 square metre factory in 2019, boasting about cranking out 250,000 crackers an hour once everything was up and running. They had a total of eight production lines at the plant.

Since taking the reins, Mondelēz has pumped $23 million into the Dandenong plant, and get this – the whole place is now running on 100 per cent renewable energy! They made the switch after getting in on Mondelēz’s Victorian renewable power deal with Pacific Blue Retail (formerly Tango Energy). This move is set to slash the factory’s carbon footprint by a massive 44 per cent compared to 2023 levels. And hey, Mondelēz’s Ringwood and Scoresby factories are already powered by renewables, so they’re really stepping up their green game.

Bevan Tippett, the big cheese at Gourmet Food, mentioned that they tacked on an extension to the place to make room for the new automated packaging line. This switch from a hands-on manual operation to a hands-off automated solution is a game-changer for the company.

Tippett also spilled the beans on how this investment is going to crank up the production of their top-notch Olina’s Artisan range by a third, all to keep up with the growing demand at home and abroad. The Olina’s range is a major player in Gourmet Food’s growth.

Mondelēz teamed up with two main suppliers, Schubert from Germany and Cavanna from Italy, with Schubert taking the lead. They’ve brought in Schubert pick and place machines to scoop up each individual cracker and pop it into trays, which then glide into the fully integrated flow-wrapper before heading to the cartoner and case packer.

Tippett was stoked about the whole thing, saying, “This is a true end to end ‘no touch’ solution. Already 20 per cent of our volumes are shipped overseas, and this investment is going to set us up to explore and grab opportunities to show off our Aussie-made products to the world.”