Schwarz Produktion has started work on a €400 million upgrade to its Bonback industrial bakery in Halle (Saale), Germany. The investment will expand large-scale baking capacity while adding automated logistics and strengthening the site’s supply-chain infrastructure.
The project will introduce five additional baking lines and an automated deep-freeze high-bay warehouse with capacity for 65,000 storage locations. Once completed, the development is expected to generate approximately 400 jobs and begin operations in 2027.
Bonback supplies bakery products to Lidl and Kaufland, the two retail businesses within the Schwarz Group. By increasing production and storage capacity, the expansion is intended to reinforce the availability of baked goods across the group’s retail network.
The investment reflects wider food manufacturing trends, in which producers are pairing higher output with sophisticated logistics systems. At Bonback, baking, freezing and warehousing will operate as connected elements of a larger, integrated facility rather than as separate production stages.
Automated equipment will manage inventory and movement within the new deep-freeze warehouse. In addition, upgraded cooling systems should help improve the expanded site’s energy performance. The facility will also operate using renewable electricity, supporting Schwarz Produktion’s broader goals for food and drink sustainability and lower-impact manufacturing.
Schwarz Produktion said the development would improve supply reliability while enabling Bonback to meet sustained demand for bakery products. The project demonstrates how food processing technology can support both operational efficiency and greater resilience.
Across the food and beverage industry, investment is increasingly focused not only on increasing production but also on protecting supply continuity. High-volume manufacturers require dependable cold-chain systems, efficient materials handling and secure energy supplies to ensure that new capacity delivers a stronger overall operation.
The Bonback expansion consequently represents more than a traditional bakery upgrade. It illustrates the way manufacturers are responding to food and beverage industry trends by combining advanced production equipment, automation and logistics capabilities to manage growing volumes and more complex distribution requirements. These priorities also connect with evolving food distribution trends, food and drink packaging expectations, food and drink regulations, food and drink marketing strategies and changing food and drink consumer trends.
Construction is now underway, and the expanded Bonback facility is scheduled to become operational in 2027.