Finnish meat and food company HKScan has unveiled plans to improve the production capacity of its poultry facility in Rauma.

The company will be investing nearly €6m in the new slaughter process to increase its raw material yield. It also aims to improve productivity and operational reliability.

HKScan CEO Tero Hemmilä said: “We will renew the whole first part of the poultry unit’s production process in Rauma since the slaughter line introduced in 2017 does not meet the standards required by the group’s current management.

“With the investment, the processing capacity of the slaughter line will increase by some 20% and raw material yield by some 10%.”

The investment is part of the company’s strategy to meet the growing demand for its poultry products in the market.

HKScan said that it will make the investments in stages throughout the year.

For this expansion, the company will dismantle the existing slaughter at the facility.

Hemmilä also said: “The investment will also ensure a significant reduction in the consumption of utilities, such as water and district heating. Demand for poultry products continues to increase and the investment enables us to better meet this strong demand in the coming years.”

HKScan expects its investment in the Rauma unit to significantly increase production capacity.

In June 2018, HKScan invested around €7m to carry out upgrade works at its Kristianstad plant in Sweden.

The investment was made to modernise the pig slaughterhouse at the site and strengthen HKScan’s operational footprint.