Automation and Tradition Blend at UK Food Producers
Tunnock's factory near Glasgow combines automation and manual labour to produce approximately 7 million wafer bars and 4.5 million tea cakes annually. The caramel production process uses about 20 tonnes daily, managed by a dedicated 12-person team responsible for spreading the sticky caramel, a labor-intensive step retained for quality and texture control. While most of the factory is automated to compete with larger snack producers, certain processes remain manual to preserve flexibility and traditional craftsmanship.
Unifiller's HIRO robot arm, developed in collaboration with Coperion and Stäubli, is designed to decorate cakes and manage toppings, including caramel, with strong emphasis on hygiene and ease of cleaning. This equipment is engineered for easy disassembly for cleaning, acknowledging hygiene as a major constraint in bakery robotics. Automation also needs to accommodate variability in baked goods, as cakes may be off-centre, oval, or domed, requiring adaptable robotic systems.
Meanwhile, The Bread Factory in northwest London, operated by Gail's, produces up to 40,000 sourdough loaves daily using approximately 16 tonnes of flour. Dough mixing is mechanized, but forming remains manual due to the delicate nature of sustainable flours used. Forrester analyst Craig Le Clair supports a hybrid automation model that increases consistency, speed, and volume while preserving the 'soul' of handcrafted products and maintaining necessary human oversight.
Coperion's development team plans further enhancements to robot arms, focusing on improvements in scanning, vision, and safety to better integrate with customer workflows without being intrusive. Investment in such new equipment depends heavily on financial conditions; for instance, volatile cocoa prices impact decisions, with a potential upgrade considered around £2.5 million.
