UK – GA Pet Food Partners has invested US$104 million to build a new modern ingredient factory to enable it to meet the current demand of processing more than 700 ingredients and more than 800 formulas.
The new production site called Ingredients Kitchen will be able to test, process and keep ingredients as well as ready-to-use products of the pet food industry.
“We are thrilled to present this fantastic investment from GA, brought together by the ingenuity, desire and dedication of various skilled organizations from around the world,” said Roger Bracewell, chairman of GA.
The Ingredients Kitchen currently processes more than 600 ingredients by more than 130 distributors and has a couple of more useful features.
These include a Pick and Mix system, a software watching every step of the production, a lander to store 5 million kg and two automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to bring products and ingredients around the factory.
“The Ingredients Kitchen has two separate functions designed and built to benefit every single one of our valued partners,” Bracewell said.
Firstly, it allows for the testing and quarantine of 367 dry raw ingredients that are stored and dosed separately into 1.5-ton batches. These are then ground and held ready for extrusion.
Secondly, it supports the storage of the 758 different extruded kibble varieties in 15,000 individual boxes within the larder that has the capacity to accomodate approximately 600 kg of complete product.
These will be tested prior to packing in one of the 7,000 different bags ready to meet partners’ needs.
The new Ingredients Kitchen offers the opportunity to test ingredients like wheat or rice in one of its laboratories to check quality and safety.
Furthermore, the laboratories enable a full traceability and a risk evaluation for the particular ingredient.
The Pick and Mix section can accurately measure the ingredients, allowing the company to use difficult-to-handle ingredients like marigold, aniseed, cinnamon, papaya and dried insects. Hence, the Ingredients Kitchen can assure quality pet food formulas.
GA also invested money in a new completely automated warehouse. “The whole process allows us to track and trace every ingredient into each bag sold to the end consumer and to be able to guarantee it is safe, having monitored every step,” Bracewell added.
According to GA, Alistair Bradley, leader of Chorley Borough Council, will unveil the Ingredients Kitchen at Plocks Farm after five years of planning and an additional four years of construction.
The grand opening will be followed by an open weekend allowing employees and local residents to visit with their families to see up close what has been constructed.
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