Huhtamaki opens new manufacturing facility in Northern Ireland

Global food and drink packaging specialist, Huhtamaki, has opened its new, state-of-the-art foodservice packaging manufacturing facility in Northern Ireland. The facility is located in Antrim and is expected to employ approximately 100 people over the next few years. With the new facility, Huhtamaki now has three manufacturing sites in Northern Ireland collectively employing around 560 people.

The Antrim facility operates initially as a dedicated paper straw manufacturing site. Going forward, Huhtamaki plans to expand the range of products manufactured at the site to other paper-based product categories. The first wave of manufacturing equipment is taken into use during 2019 and further investments in additional manufacturing equipment are planned for 2020-2022.

Alastair Hamilton, CEO of Invest NI; John Park, McDonald’s Chief Financial Officer for UK & Ireland; Ciaran Doherty, General Manager of Huhtamaki Food Services Belfast pictured at the Official Opening of the new Huhtamaki paper straw facility in Antrim / Picture: Huhtamaki

Ciaran Doherty, General Manager for Huhtamaki Foodservice in Northern Ireland, said: “At Huhtamaki we are continuously looking for ways to improve the environmental performance of our products and to introduce new, more sustainable packaging innovations. The launch of our paper straws is a good example of this. We are extremely proud to support our customers in their strategy to have a more sustainable and environmentally responsible supply chain by opening this new site.”

Huhtamaki paper straws are made with new, purpose-built machinery to deliver a premium product. 100% of the paper used for the straws and wrapping comes from sustainably managed forests. Huhtamaki plans to expand paper straw manufacturing to further manufacturing units in Europe during 2019.