Kellanova eyes British market with £75 million investment in cereal production site

Kellanova is planning to ramp up its British cereal production capacity with a £75 million (US$98 million) investment in the Wrexham, North Wales site, which manufactures Kellogg’s All Bran, Bran Flakes, Fruit ’n Fibre and Special K brands.

The cash injection, which the company calls the “largest single investment” in British cereal production in over 30 years, aims to leverage new sustainable production technology to create Europe’s “largest cereal factory.” 

The Wrexham plant’s current annual cereal production will “more than double,” with the facility producing nearly 1.5 million boxes of cereal every day.

Kellanova’s UK managing director, Chris Silcock, says: “This investment is a major commitment to cereal production in the UK. By bringing together the manufacturing of all our major breakfast cereals at one site in Wrexham, we can make significant leaps forward in the efficiency, quality and sustainability of our operation.”

Meanwhile, the production of other Kellogg’s cereal brands made in the UK, such as Corn Flakes and Crunchy Nut, will transition to Wrexham as the company winds down production at its Trafford Park factory, which is due to close in late 2026.

Sustainability and tech

Besides ramping up production, Kellanova is also looking to enhance the sustainability of cereal manufacturing with two new production lines that use AI and machine learning technology to lower energy consumption during the production process.

With the latest investment, Kellanova will also add new packaging lines to the UK site (Image credit: Kellanova).“This will help reduce the CO2 emissions of Kellanova’s cereal production by 11% annually as part of its Better Days Promise sustainability program,” highlights the company.

The company also claims the new production technology will advocate more usage of raw materials, such as rice, delivering a “ten-fold reduction” in food waste across the supply chain.

Additionally, it plans to add new packaging lines and upgrade existing production lines to improve the efficiency of cereal production at the factory. 

The new lines will offer increased flexibility and speed up the introduction of new cereal formats and ingredients to meet evolving consumer tastes in the future.

Tapping into the British market

The UK is a huge market for Kellanova, where nearly 42% of consumers prefer cereals for their convenience, nutritional benefits and flavor and texture options, according to the Innova Market Insights’ report on an overview of breakfast cereals in the country.

It was also the second leading country for breakfast cereal launches in Europe over the last year, after Germany, notes the market researcher. However, the UK leads with 32% of breakfast cereal sales during the same period. The report found milk chocolate, nuts, hazelnut, blueberry and fruit to be the dominating flavors in the region, with cold cereal emerging as the top subcategory.

Kellanova will move the manufacturing of Corn Flakes and Crunchy Nut from its Greater Manchester plant to Wrexham.For Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens Kellanova’s latest investment is “another huge vote of confidence in the economy of northeast Wales,” after Turkish company Eren Holding injected £1 billion (US$1.3 billion) in a containerboard and tissue production hub to support cardboard waste recycling in the country last week.

 In other Kellanova updates, the company split off from WK Kellogg in October last year to focus on snacks and emerging markets, which led to the firm’s share price rising by nearly 20%.

In August, Mars, Incorporated announced its intention to acquire Kellanova in a US$35.9 billion deal which is expected to materialize in the first half of 2025, amid close scrutiny from competition watchdogs.