IN Brief:
- Kitchen West has planning approval with more than £100 million committed.
- The Trowbridge project adds meal production capacity alongside existing Canal Road kitchens.
- Reuse of materials from the former site keeps sustainability embedded in the build.
Apetito has secured planning approval for Kitchen West, a new food manufacturing facility in Trowbridge backed by more than £100 million of shareholder investment. The project will sit on the Canal Road Industrial Estate beside the company’s existing operations and is intended to add production capacity as demand continues to grow across its meal supply activities.
The approval clears the way for construction to begin this summer, with the existing Mill Site kitchens due to remain in operation while the new facility is built. Apetito has said the new plant will support long-term expansion in Trowbridge, where it is already the town’s largest private employer and has around 670 members of its UK workforce based locally.
Kitchen West has been framed as a regenerative manufacturing project as much as a capacity expansion. Site preparation has already involved dismantling older buildings and reusing materials on site, a move intended to reduce waste, cut transport movements, and limit the volume of virgin construction material needed for the new plant.
The investment points to continued confidence in UK production for healthcare, care, and home-delivered meal channels. Apetito and Wiltshire Farm Foods operate in parts of the market where consistency, dietary control, and dependable cold-chain execution are central to contract performance, and additional plant capacity should give the group more headroom as volumes rise.
The new site is expected to become operational in 2027. Once completed, it will sit alongside the company’s existing kitchens on Canal Road, giving the business more manufacturing flexibility without shifting its production base away from Wiltshire.
