How sweet it is

09/17/2004

Ferrero Group to build $150-million plant in city




Chocolate maker to hire over 600

BY MICHELLE RUBY
EXPOSITOR STAFF / BRANTFORD


The city got a taste of how sweet it's going to be when the Ferrero Group announced details of its plans to construct a plant in the North West Business Park.

The chocolate maker will invest an estimated $150 million in a 600,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that initially will employ 600 to 650 people, company representative Franco Veglio said at a news conference at city hall Thursday.

The factory site on the newly-named Ferrero Boulevard near Oak Park Road and Highway 403 is large enough to double the size of the plant, which Veglio said the company hopes to do over the next three to five years.

Plans are to have at least the plant's shell constructed before winter, with a projected completion date of mid-2006.

The popular Ferrero Rocher, a chocolate covered, cream-filled confection will be the first product made at the city facility.

"We are thrilled about Ferrero's decision to make Brantford their home," said Mayor Mike Hancock. "We have been fortunate to have a number of excellent firms come here over the last year or so. It changes Brantford’s image when people look at the companies that have come to the city."

Hancock noted there are about 6,000 manufacturing jobs in the confectionery industry in Canada and "right off the bat, Brantford is employing 10% of them."

Brantford was selected for Ferrero's plant location following an extensive North American site review process.

The city had been wooing the chocolatier for months before it announced in April that Brantford was a "prioritized location" for its new operation. A luncheon with company officials was held in the city early this year where Hancock, eager to impress his guests, delivered a speech in Italian.

Veglio said that extra effort by city politicians and staff was a big factor in the company's decision to come to Brantford. Other considerations were the city's proximity to major Canadian and U.S. markets, the availability to serviced industrial land and cost competitive land prices without industrial development charges.

The Ferrero Group is a leader in food and confectionery products that employs more than 16,000 people at 16 manufacturing plants in Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Australia and the U.S.

The company was established in 1946 by Pietro Ferrero in Alba, Italy. It continues to be privately owned by the Ferrero family and makes numerous products, including Kinder Surprise, Nutella, Tic Tac, and Kinder Bueno.

The new city plant is the result of the development of the global praline chocolate business. It will be built on a 160-acre parcel of land purchased from Telephone City Aggregates and the Davidowitz family.

John Frabotta, the city's director of economic development and tourism, said the Ferrero Group's commitment will help draw other investors to the city. But, he added, the municipality must continue to look for increasingly scarce serviced industrial land.

"We should, in the short term, be able to meet demands." Frabotta said it has been an extraordinary year for industrial development in the city, with both Procter and Gamble and Cameo building distribution facilities set to open next year.

Veglio said the Ferrero Group has already hired several technical specialists who will train in Europe and be responsible for setting up equipment in the Brantford plant.

The company will he opening a temporary office at 45 Market St. in early October to manage the start up of the facility.