Mondelēz opens R&D hub in Poland
Mondelēz International has opened a new research and development hub in Poland as part of a $65 million investment aimed at accelerating growth and innovation within the business.
The facility in Wroclaw will support new products and technologies for the company’s Milka and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate as well as Oreo, BelVita and Barni biscuits.
The Wroclaw technical centre is part of the group’s previously announced $65 million investment in nine large R&D hubs. These centres, Mondelēz says, will enable it to better recruit, retain and develop talent across a range of science and technical disciplines while accelerating the company’s growth and innovation.
“With these advantaged technical centres, we’re focusing our investment in research, equipment and capabilities, driving innovation to support our growth strategy, margin and quality platforms,” says Rob Hargrove, executive vice president of research, development, quality and innovation. “These R&D hubs will improve speed, efficiency and effectiveness, while increased scale will enable us to more quickly address evolving consumer needs.”
He adds, “Poland is one of our most important markets in central Europe, and Wroclaw is a modern city that’s open to investment. Embedding one of our largest technical centres here clearly signals the importance of Poland and Europe within our global R&D network.”
The Wroclaw technical centre will be home to nearly 250 experts — scientists, engineers and other specialists. The site is equipped with innovation laboratories, a large pilot plant and a ‘collaboration kitchen’ — a creative space of 9,500 square metres for new ideas and experimentation. The hub will closely collaborate on innovations with more than 40 sites in the company’s manufacturing network across Europe.
The Wroclaw hub joins four other Mondelēz International technical centres — East Hanover, New Jersey, in the US; Curitiba in Brazil; as well as Bournville and Reading, both in the UK — that are already in full operation.
The remainder of the company’s network of redesigned technical centres — in India, Singapore, Mexico and China — are expected to open in the second half of 2017 and in 2018.
