Entrepreneur Michael Carey has announced details of East Coast Bakehouse, a new large scale commercial biscuit manufacturing facility located in Drogheda.

Carey said the €15m investment will transform a recently renovated 50,000 sq.ft. food production facility at Donore Road business park in Drogheda into a bakehouse, innovation facility, warehouse and offices.

The domestic biscuit industry is worth €170m, and the UK market is valued at over €2 billion. The East Coast Bakehouse will produce its own new brand and will also manufacture retail private label, serving both the domestic and export markets.

This project is being part-funded by the Irish taxpayer through Enterprise Ireland.

According to Carey: “Every week over €3m worth of biscuits is purchased and enjoyed by Irish consumers, almost all are currently imported. We aim to provide a new commercially competitive local Irish source of biscuits. There is also a great opportunity to provide high quality biscuits to UK retailers.

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“We carefully evaluated a number of locations for our facility before selecting Drogheda, and our location on Ireland’s east coast will play a key role in the future of our company. We have worked very closely with Enterprise Ireland on this project and we have been encouraged by local support so far for the development of this facility.”

“We are very pleased to be launching this new venture. Our management team combined has over 60 years experience in the sector and our drive to bake better biscuits, using select ingredients in a sustainable manner will become key to our business’ success in the coming years”, he concluded.

The founders of the new business are CEO Michael Carey; Marketing & Innovation Director, Alison Cowzer; Commercial Director, Daragh Monahan; Operations Director, James Yarr; and Chief Financial Officer, Gerry Murphy.

This group were the management team that established the Jacob Fruitfield Group before it was sold in 2011 to Valeo Foods.

Eddie Cullen, Managing Director of Ulster Banks Corporate Banking Division, said: “Our goal is to work with both existing and new customers in the food and drinks sector and we are delighted to be involved in this startup business, the only large-scale biscuit manufacturing plant in Ireland.”