Huhtamaki’s £2m investment in skills to drive exports

Economy Minister Diane Dodds has announced that packaging manufacturing company Huhtamaki Foodservice Delta is to invest over £2million in skills development at its West Belfast and Antrim facilities.

The company specialises in the design, printing and manufacturing of printed, folded carton packaging, primarily for fast food and retail outlets including McDonald’s, KFC, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, and Nando’s.

Mrs Dodds said: “Skills development is not only vital for sustaining business competitiveness, but it is even more essential now as we support business recovery and revive the economy.

“Huhtamaki is well known globally for its pioneering manufacturing processes and has shown real adaptability during the pandemic by repurposing part of its business to support the manufacture of NHS-approved PPE in partnership with Bloc Blinds.

“Looking forward, it recognises the rapidly growing global demand for sustainable food paper-based packaging and the importance of upskilling its workforce to be able to continue innovation in this area.

“This significant investment across its West Belfast and Antrim facilities will focus on training its staff in using its new machinery to help it capitalise on this niche market.”

Ciaran Doherty, Huhtamaki UK General Manager, said: “We’ve always recognised that to remain competitive we need to constantly be innovating. As part of our growth plans we are aiming to increase our product offering of sustainable, recyclable packaging to include paper wraps, bags and tubs, to support customer demand for packaging.

“To do this, we are upskilling our staff in team management and how to optimise the new machinery. This will help us to innovate and expand in identified target markets.”