A BAKING ingredients manufacturer has opened its new £1 million state-of-the-art technical centre in Colchester, creating three new jobs.

Zeelandia UK, part of international firm Royal Zeelandia Group, has moved its base from Billericay to Easter Park, off Axial Way.

The company supplies ingredients to the industrial, craft and in-store bakery sectors, and the Colchester site features a Covid-safe bakery, offices and warehouse accommodation.

It also has a customer marketing suite so that Zeelandia to develop new products with its partners.

Managing director David Amos said: “Exploring has been in the DNA of Zeelandia for over a century but we don’t just explore bakery on our own, we explore it with our customers, which is why we decided to invest in this purpose-designed new technical centre and marketing suite in Colchester.

"We have designed an environment which has all the scale and facilities to deliver real innovation and inspiration in partnership with our customers.

“During the pandemic we have been working hard to ensure that a little bit of that Zeelandia magic is delivered to them by sending samples and running exploratory workshops via video calls."

Three new members of staff have joined the 22 strong team at the new Colchester site, with further expansion plann for the future.