Food & Drink Manufacturing Sector

Food and drink brands recognised the world over call Bedford
home.
A long history of food and drink production
has built a tried and tested infrastructure. Also, because of its
unique geography, Bedford has a first-class logistical
network.
Major players already here:
Charles Wells Brewery, Lantmannen Unibake,
European Oat Millers, Unilever and Jordan’s.
Some key pointers:
- 90% of UK consumers are in
reach within four hours
- Typical wage for production
operative £6.31 – £7.80 p/h and typical annual salary for line
manager £20,000 per annum.
- Variety of well-established
business networks specialising in the Food and Drink sector
including Tastes of Bedfordshire and Taste Real Food Bedford.
- Colworth Science Park in
Bedford Borough is a food and drink centre of excellence and has
been the location of one of Unilever's foremost R&D centres for
over 55 years. The site is host to a number of R&D
organisations that benefit from access to a significant range of
specialist services directly relevant to the food science
industry.
- Cranfield University is
renowned internationally for their expertise in food and specialise
research areas including Food Quality consisting of: Shelf Life,
Mycology, Post-Harvest Technology, Contamination, Nutrition and
Microbiology.
- Bedford Borough and
surrounding area has a wide range of regional produce with
particular strengths in red meat, bakery and confectionery, fruit
and vegetables, breweries and drinks, ethnic foods, dairy, food
technology and machinery.
- The ethnic diversity of our
region brings new food cultures to explore (ethnic and fusion)
offering cuisine from around the world.
To read first hand how Bedford
Borough attracted a major business inward investment from the food
& drink manufacturing sector:
Lantmannen Unibake Case Study



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