Multinational snack giant Mondelēz has invested a further $5 million, – in addition to the initial $17 million funding – in its Global Technical Centre in Wroclaw, Poland.
The new technical centre, which is set to open 1.5 years from today, will expand the research and development (R&D) of Mondelēz, beyond chocolate and bakery to serve gum and candy innovation.
“The Wroclaw Technical Centre is unique not only for its diverse and talented scientists and engineers but also for its fluency across chocolate, biscuits and gum and candy technologies. With this new investment, we will be able to surprise and delight our consumers and shoppers with exciting new combinations of technologies, formats, fillings and much more,” said Kevin Powell, vice president of Mondelēz RDQ Biscuits and Gum & Candy.
The centre will serve as an R&D Hub for the company’s iconic global and local brands including Oreo, belVita, Milka, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Toblerone, Trident, Hollywood, Stimorol and Dirol. The expansion is part of a $65 million investment in large RDQ hubs worldwide. Mondelēz said these hubs allow the company to “recruit, retain and develop talent across a range of science and technical disciplines while accelerating the company’s growth and innovation.”
“Our mission at Mondelēz International is simple – to offer consumers the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way and our global technical centre network is crucial to support this,” said Rob Hargrove, executive vice president Research, Development & Quality.
“Poland is one of our most important markets in Central Europe, with an impressive manufacturing network, and Wroclaw is a modern city that’s open to investments. Embedding one of our largest technical centres here clearly signals the importance of Poland and Europe within our global R&D network. It is also home to leading technical universities and top-notch specialists. Now, with the exciting extension to Gum and Candy, we are creating approximately 50 new jobs here”.
Mondelēz’ Wroclaw centre houses over 200 FMCG experts including scientists, engineers and other specialists from around the world of 28 different nationalities. The site is equipped with a large pilot plant for chocolate and biscuits; a brand new dedicated pilot plant for gum and candy; analytical and sensory labs – in total a creative space of 12,500 m2 for new ideas and experimentation. The confectionery giant said that the Wroclaw centre will closely collaborate with more than 40 sites in its manufacturing network across Europe.
In addition to Wroclaw, Mondelēz International has 10 other technical centres around the world, including East Hanover, New Jersey, in the United States; Curitiba in Brazil; Bournville and Reading, UK; Thane in India; Singapore and Suzhou in China; Saclay in France and Munich in Germany.
