Gardenia Bakeries Philippines Inc. announced the inauguration of its new 2.5 hectare plant in Mindanao. The PHP 1 billion (USD 19 million) production facility is located in PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental with the capacity of producing 130,000 loaves and buns per day.
The plant has fully automated bread-making machines that will produce white bread, health bread selections, flavored loaf offerings and buns or pandesal products. Almost all equipment of the plant was imported from Germany, the Netherlands, United States, Malaysia and Japan.
With this expansion, Gardenia is forecasting a 35% increase in sales which will not only serve the growing demand in Mindanao but also to support the huge requirement in Visayas. The company is also preparing to start the full operation of its PHP 2 billion (USD 38 million) plant in Pampanga this year.
(Sources: The Philippine Star; BusinessWorld; Manila Bulletin)