Robots to run new Kit Kat factory

NeSTle is investing £55m in a high-tech factory run by robots so it can deliver Kit Kat and coffee quicker to customers.

The 638,000 sq ft warehouse – equivalent to ten football pitches – will be fully automated, meaning all the products are picked and packed by robots before being shipped out to supermarkets or directly to customers.

Nestle said the factory, in leicestershire, would give customers ‘faster, more efficient access’ to its products.

The firm is the world’s largest food and drink company making After eight mints, Smarties, Quality Street, Shredded Wheat and Cheerios.

David Hix, supply chain director, said the investment ‘builds on a century and a half of proud history’ in Britain.

Scheduled to be completed in 2020, the warehouse, which is being built in a tie-up with logistics and transport firm XPo logistics, will still employ humans but Nestle has not confirmed how many jobs will be created.