IAWS set to spend €180m to develop new facility

A subsidiary of food group, IAWS, is set to spend €180 million on developing a new manufacturing and research facility, it was announced yesterday.

The convenience foods and agribusiness group is planning to build a new 42,600 sq m (458,542.584 sq ft) facility at Grange Castle, Co Dublin, that will house a key part of its Cuisine de France operation.

The plant will include manufacturing, research and development, training, distribution and management. The group is planning to invest €180 million in its development.

The centre will be located at Grange Castle business park, which is owned by South Dublin County Council.

The authority has already given planning permission and building is due to begin shortly. It is scheduled to be completed in 2008.

The construction work will create in the region of 100 jobs.

The centre itself will employ 180 jobs when it is up and running.

The company intends to hire five research and development specialists to run that element of the operation.

State agency, Enterprise Ireland, is supporting the research and development aspect of the investment.

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin yesterday launched the plan. He said the project was one of the most significant undertaken by an Irish food company.

Hugo Kane, head of IAWS food business, said that the company invested substantial sums on an ongoing basis in developing convenience food products.

IAWS has operations in Ireland, the US, Canada, Europe and the UK and employs 3,500 people in these countries. The group had sales last year of €1.37 billion and made profits before tax of €123.7 million.

Cuisine de France is part of its speciality bakery division, which includes Delice de France in the UK. The group has invested €750 million in that business since 1997, the year in which it bought Tallaght, Dublin-based Cuisine de France.

It also owns the La Brea bakery chain in the US, and holds a stake in Canadian specialist bakery, Tim Hortons. Overall, the division contributed about €74 million to IAWS operating profits in its 2005 financial year.

The group is also involved in nutrition, food ingredients and agribusiness.

Its other consumer brands include Roma, Carrolls Irish Cuisine and Shamrock Foods.