A more than £100m investment programme will upgrade Avara Foods’ poultry operations, bringing new cutting technology and automation into its UK supply chain as the business looks to improve productivity, resilience and capacity for growth.

Avara Foods is committing more than £100m over the next three years to its UK poultry operations, signalling a shift towards greater automation, upgraded production facilities and a more integrated approach to manufacturing efficiency.

The investment programme includes more than £40m of spending during 2026 on technology and facilities. Avara says the programme is designed to strengthen its production network while supporting growth in retail and food service.

For a business operating across farming, processing and distribution, the investment is significant because it is not simply about adding production capacity. Avara is using technology and equipment upgrades to change how efficiently its existing supply chain operates.

Automation targets production efficiency

A key element of the programme will be the introduction of next-generation cutting capability and new automation across key sites in Avara’s chicken supply chain.

The company says these upgrades will create a more efficient and resilient food supply chain. In manufacturing terms, that points towards greater consistency in processing operations, improved productivity and the ability to respond more effectively to customer demand.

Avara CEO Chris Hall said the programme was intended to build on the company’s position as a supplier of locally sourced poultry while strengthening the underlying production network.

“This ambitious UK investment programme ensures Avara builds on its existing position as a strong and sustainable partner to our customers supplying the affordable locally sourced poultry, produced to high standards, that British consumers demand.”

The investment also builds on a period of restructuring. Avara says it has completed a comprehensive restructuring of the business over the past three years, resulting in improved financial performance. The new programme therefore represents a move from restructuring towards investment in the production infrastructure needed for its next phase of growth.

Building a more resilient supply chain

The wider significance of the investment is its focus on the entire production network rather than individual pieces of equipment.

Avara operates an integrated supply chain spanning farms, processing and customers, with an agricultural network of more than 350 farms and major processing sites across England and Wales.

That integration gives investments in processing technology a wider role. Improving cutting, automation and facility performance can affect throughput and consistency further along the supply chain, while greater production efficiency can help the business manage changing demand.

Avara says its objective is to create a supply chain that is competitive, reliable and able to grow.

“This is a major investment in the future of our business and in the resilience of the UK poultry supply chain,” said Hall. “It reflects confidence in our people, our facilities and the long-term future of UK poultry production.”

From restructuring to reinvestment

The announcement also provides an indication of how Avara sees its future manufacturing model.

Rather than treating automation as an isolated technology project, the company is linking equipment investment to productivity, resilience and customer growth. That makes the programme relevant beyond poultry: it reflects the broader pressure on food manufacturers to extract more performance from their production assets while maintaining quality and cost competitiveness.

Avara already has an example of this approach at its Telford site, where it says £2.3m has recently been invested in technology and equipment at one of its main processing facilities. The site processes up to 1.5 million birds per week.

The latest programme takes that approach across a much larger part of the business.

For Avara, the intended outcome is a production platform capable of supplying growing retail and food service demand while maintaining its focus on affordable, locally sourced poultry. For the wider manufacturing sector, it provides another example of investment in automation and processing technology being used not just to increase output, but to strengthen the resilience of the underlying food supply chain.