Return to New Zealand a chance to experiment with biscuit ideas — Arnott’s

AUCKLAND: Arnott’s says its return to manufacturing in New Zealand will give it an ideal setup to try out new biscuits on New Zealand markets.

Arnott’s is the maker of staples such as Tim Tams, Shapes and Farmbake biscuits, and New Zealanders eat 45 million of them each year.

Manufacturing was shifted offshore 25 years ago, but the company has begun a return.

Arnott’s New Zealand director Mike Cullerne said construction had begun on a multimilliondollar manufacturing facility in the West Auckland suburb of Avondale.

‘‘About a year ago we acquired a business called 180 Degrees, which is a New Zealand business . . . over the last year we’ve decided we’re going to double down on New Zealand and we’ll build a new facility here in West

Auckland,’’ Mr Cullerne said.

‘‘That facility will be responsible for producing 180 Degrees, but over time we’ll also be able to make Arnott’s products in this facility.’’

He said the move would create dozens of new jobs in production, as well as roles in research and development, quality control and human resources, both at the new plant and at the head office in Newmarket.

‘‘For us we see it as a really big opportunity for us to deliver something different for our manufacturing footprint, we’re going to be a lot faster and agile here in this facility.

‘‘A lot of our manufacturing sites in Australia are very good at what they do . . . but they’re largescale production facilities. So for us being able to build this new facility here is going to allow us to move a lot faster on innovation and what Kiwi consumers want.’’

The original founders of 180 Degrees had been working with the Arnott’s team on new product ideas.

The team would ‘‘certainly be looking to perhaps bring back some old favourites’’, Mr Cullerne said.

But the focus would be on steps to drive growth — ‘‘spaces we don’t currently produce [in]’’.

‘‘Looking at where consumers are going to be, as opposed to where they’ve been is really, really important in terms of how we look at what we’re going to manufacture in this site.

‘‘This is a bit more of a flexible site for us, which will allow us to try different things and experiment with different products in the New Zealand market place, which we’re really excited about.’’

Biscuit consumption had gone up during the pandemic, he said.

‘‘Consumers are kind of going two ways.

‘‘One they’re getting more indulgent . . . biscuits with a bit more chocolate in them . . . and then the other way they’re thinking about their waistline a bit, and thinking a bit more of healthy alternatives like glutenfree, sugarfree products.’’ — RNZ