Weetabix Investing $37M in U.K. Food Manufacturing Sites

The producer of Britain’s top-selling cereal brand, Weetabix Food Company, is investing £30 million, or about $37.4 million, in its U.K. manufacturing sites to expand production capacity, the food firm announced Monday.

Set to be completed by 2018, the company plans to raise capacity at its Burton Latimer and Corby manufacturing facilities and add on new jobs to increase production volumes of Weetabix biscuits.

Weetabix said the move was in response to an increase in the company’s market share in the U.K. cereals and drinks market, which climbed from 15.3% to 16.4% in the last year. The firm attributes the growth to “British shoppers look[ing] for more nutritious, tasty and convenient breakfast choices.” The recently-introduced Weetabix Protein generated £7 million in sales for the company in 2016.

“We’ve consistently bucked the market, through our innovation and focus on nutritionally strong products that taste great. We have been successful in increasing our sales of brands such as Weetabix and Alpen, with consumers trusting us to deliver best in class nutrition and taste,” said Giles Turrell, chief executive officer of the Weetabix Food Company, in a statement.

Breakfast drinks is another strong category for the company, with its Weetabix On the Go drink growing by 70% last year, according to the firm.

The firm believes the expansion will aid in growing sales of Weetabix biscuits in domestic and export markets.

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