Laxey Flour steps up production with new packaging machine

Laxey Glen Mills has invested in a brand new packing line to increase production at its 150 year old mill in Laxey.

The new machine packs an impressive 17 bags of flour every minute, increasing efficiency of production to support the mill’s new strategy to drive sales on Island.

The state-of-the-art 2018 Yeni Model was installed in February by Turkish manufacturer Sagbil. It fills the paper bags with 1.5kg of flour and transports them along a conveyor belt where they are then glued, folded and sealed before being stamped with a best before date, passed through metal detection and pushed into a poly-bag ready to be shipped out by the dozen.

Colin Kniveton, Chairman of Laxey Glen Mills, said “This is a very positive and exciting step for the whole team at Laxey Flour. It means that waste from the packaging process has been reduced from 15-20% to almost 0% and that production will increase significantly to fulfil demand for a more competitively priced local product of the highest quality.

“The flour mill has stood for some 150 years and this investment demonstrates that it continues to go from strength to strength today, moving forward with the times on the inside but keeping the heritage of industrial Laxey on the outside.”

The Department for Enterprise supported the machine’s installation through its Financial Assistance Scheme. Commenting on their decision to support Laxey Glen Mills, the Department for Enterprise’s Enterprise Support Team said, “The Department is delighted to have supported Laxey Glen Mills with the purchase of a new packing line. We hope this investment will ensure the mill can continue to support a strong local cereal and baking industry here on the Isle of Man.”

Laxey Glen Mills produces no less than 12 varieties of flour, all of which are free from UK legislated additives and produced from milling wheat grown by farm-assured farmers on the Isle of Man. This gives full traceability and provides an excellent provenance for their flours.

Laxey Glen Mills became the 100th partner of UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man in 2018, its flours bear the Isle of Man Provenance logo and boast a number of Great Taste awards.