British supermarket chain Morrisons has officially launched an innovation centre at its Greenside fresh food manufacturing facility in Bradford, UK. 

The £1.4m ($1.7m) facility, inaugurated by Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe and West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin, is set to bolster the growth of Greenside and its broader manufacturing division, Myton Food Group. 

The centre’s advanced development and showcase kitchen will enable the site to exhibit its popular food offerings and foster the creation of innovative products.

The 400,000ft² Greenside site is the UK's largest fresh food factory. It produces a wide array of items including bacon, quiches and cooked meats across 44 production lines and employs 1,400 people. 

During 2023 the site benefited from substantial investments, including £6.6m in cheese automation technology.  

A further £7m is earmarked for new sausage production lines in 2024.

Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh said: “At Morrisons we are proud food makers and we are always exploring ways in which we can showcase our expertise and develop new and exciting opportunities to take our products to a wider market.  

“This new facility gives our fantastic team of chefs a space to create the high-quality, British products our customers want, using ingredients from our trusted farmers and growers.” 

In a related initiative, Morrisons has expanded its Quieter Hour shopping experience to support World Autism Acceptance Week from 2 to 8 April 2024. 

The Quieter Hour, which began in July 2018, will now include additional hours to accommodate more customers.  

During these hours, stores will dim lights, turn off music and radios, limit trolley and basket movement and refrain from making tannoy announcements. 

Morrisons also recently partnered with the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner to introduce crime prevention terminals in stores.