Golden Harvest officially opens €20m bakery

Golden Harvest has officially inaugurated its €20 million industrial bakery in San Gwann Industrial Estate.

The 14,500-square metre plant, which Golden Harvest claim is the largest bakery on the island, is spread over four storeys and houses 147 employees who man the production, packaging, storage, distribution and administrative departments. It churns out 65,000 products a day.

The plant is energy-efficient and environment-friendly technology includes a photo voltaic system which provides 40,000 KW of energy a year, reducing energy costs by 18 per cent. There is a waste separation system and a reservoir with a capacity for 96,000 gallons of rainwater for every four inches of rainfall. Water is purified through a reverse osmosis system and used for second-class water. All oven burners use LPG gas, reducing emissions.

The premises were inaugurated by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in the presence of company chairman John Aquilina, and directors and managers.

A world-renowned Israeli bakery management consultancy firm supervised the works at the plant, which boasts a cold room that can store up to 1,100 pallets and has nine different loading bays. It also has two new production lines for loaf production and a bun line that provides 100 per cent more capacity than the previous plant in Gzira, which has now been closed.

The San Gwann premises have been in partial operation for two years. The plant became fully operational six months ago.