PureOaty producer Glebe Farm Foods is making a multi-million pound investment in its Cambridgeshire farm so that from August its entire production process will take place on one site.
With its new cutting-edge packaging plant, which includes a Tetra Pak filling line, Glebe Farm says PureOaty will be the only British oat drink fully produced on a single UK site and that its food miles will be reduced – with just 300 metres between the oat milling and packaging processes.
The facility has the capacity to pack 10,000 litres per hour and will introduce tethered caps across all the brand’s packs to make recycling easier and reduce litter. It will also create for the first time the opportunity for the firm to co-pack for other manufacturers and retailers.
oat drinks will leave our Cambridgeshire farm ready to be enjoyed, without being processed anywhere else
“Our new plant is an investment in meeting a growing demand for oat drinks as part of a plant-based diet,” explains Philip Rayner, Glebe Farm co-owner and MD. “We know that more and more people in the UK want to know where their food and drink comes from and how it’s made. At Glebe Farm, we’re proud that our oats are 100% sown, grown and milled in the UK. We’re even prouder to now be able to say that oat drinks will leave our Cambridgeshire farm ready to be enjoyed, without being processed anywhere else.
“Not only will our new facility enable us to produce in greater quantity, but it’ll help us do so in an even more sustainable way. We won’t need to take our oat drinks elsewhere to be packaged, which will mean they’ll have the lowest food miles of any oat drink brand in the UK. The initiation to use the new tethered caps, set to be the standard across all our oat drinks, will boost the recyclability of our packaging.
“This upgrade is a big step for us as an independent UK producer, and we’re all really excited about where it will take us next.”
Awantika Chadha, sustainability manager at Tetra Pak, adds: “Decarbonising food systems is a key priority for Tetra Pak and Glebe Farm, and taking steps to move packaging onsite will help minimize the food miles travelled in production. Our technologies and packaging innovations will help Glebe Farm to improve efficiencies and reduce the business’ impact on the environment.”
