Morrisons Greenside fresh food manufacturing operation, has officially opened a brand-new on-site innovation centre as part of a significant investment programme.
Costing £1.4 million, the brand-new ‘Greenside Innovation Centre’, was officially opened with the unveiling of a plaque by the Leader of Bradford Council, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe and Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin.
The centre features a new state of the art development and showcase kitchen that will support the growth of Greenside and the wider Morrisons manufacturing division – Myton Food Group. The innovation centre will allow the site to showcase the food they’re known for and allow for the development of new and exciting products to present to prospective customers.
Morrisons prepares and makes more than half of the fresh food sold in its stores. The Greenside site is the UK’s largest fresh food factory producing bacon, quiches, pies, sausages, gammon, cooked meats and packed cheese.
Rami Baitiéh, Chief Executive Officer of Morrisons, said: “We’re pleased to officially open our Greenside Innovation Centre here in the city of Bradford. At Morrisons we are proud food makers and we are always exploring ways in which we can showcase our expertise and develop new and exciting opportunities to take our products to a wider market.
“This new facility gives our fantastic team of chefs a space to create the high-quality, British products our customers want, using ingredients from our trusted farmers and growers.”
Bradford Labour Leader, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, said: “We’re really proud that Bradford is the home of Morrisons and therefore I really welcome this latest investment from the company in the city.
“It’s a very well run operation and it’s great to see what care and thought they are putting into new product design at the Innovation Centre. It’s this kind of investment which will retain Morrisons’ place as a market leader.”
Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, said: “I welcome the investment Morrisons has made into the Greenside Innovation Centre, helping to bring new opportunities to Bradford. Morrisons is an important partner for Bradford and West Yorkshire and I will continue to support them to grow and succeed.”
The site has received significant investment in the past year, with an additional £6.6 million being used in cheese automation technology; a further £7m will be invested this year in new sausage lines.
Morrisons Greenside is a 400,000 sq ft manufacturing site, employing a 1,400 strong team, producing 277m packs of fresh food products across 44 production lines.