Research indicates consumer appetite for instant noodles is rising. A €19.4 million investment at Unilever’s Poznan factory in Poland is ensuring the business is prepped to feed this increased demand, thanks to fully automated lines that will boost noodle production and efficiency.

Easy, affordable and endlessly versatile, Japanese-style noodles have, over the last few years, successfully made the jump from speciality restaurant treat to convenient meal-in-minutes staple throughout Europe.

Served in an umami broth and topped with just about anything, convenience has always been the driver for this ultimate fast food that was originally created in post-war Japan as a quick and easy meal for workers.

With research predicting that demand for noodles is set to rise significantly in the next few years, Unilever is now investing €19.4 million to boost production at its Poznan factory in Poland.

Growth opportunity: the rise and rise of noodles

“Noodles are one of our priority categories, with great growth potential not only in Poland but also throughout Europe,” says Michaela Franekova, Nutrition Lead, East Europe, Unilever, adding that currently the UK is the biggest market in Western Europe, followed by Poland.

Noodles are one of our priority categories, with great growth potential not only in Poland but also throughout Europe.

Michaela Franekova, Nutrition Lead, East Europe
“The noodle market in Europe is still growing dynamically and according to Euromonitor, further volume growth is forecast – 7% volume growth by 2027 in Eastern Europe, taking 2023 as the baseline, and 10.8% in Western Europe.”

Thanks to this investment, the Poznan factory, already the largest European production site for Unilever’s Nutrition business, will see its output increasing, thanks to new technology that will boost hourly production of Knorr, UNOX and Amino brand noodles while also following strict environmental standards in order to optimise water and electricity use and to reduce waste.

Boosting efficiency and speed on the production line

The key to this optimisation lies in the introduction of physical and digital automation along the production process.

Although the layout of the new automated lines will be the same as the existing ones, they will operate at more than twice the efficiency and are expected to produce 600,000 units a day for distribution in Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary and the rest of Europe.

“This investment will allow the factory, already a key food production centre for Unilever, to meet customers’ needs more efficiently and continue to grow our business,” says Przemys?aw Fejfer, Factory Director at Poznan.

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