Romano's Food Group

The Romano’s Food Group factory is now back to full production thanks to the construction expertise of Apollo Projects.

In April last year, the company’s owners and staff were devastated when the original Christchurch facility was destroyed in an electrical fire.  The factory had been operating for 50 years and everyone, including New Zealand pizza lovers, wanted it back up and running as soon as possible.

The Laura Kirkpatrick Family Trust chose Apollo Projects, as specialists in constructing food and beverage facilities, to manage the rebuild at the original Hillsborough site. The design work for the 299m² office and 2365m² factory began in September 2021, and by 10 October 2022 the new facility was ready to occupy.

 Project Manager James​​ O'Donoghue says the materials used in the build included Kingspan insulated panels, precast concrete panels, and COLORSTEEL® roof and wall cladding. To meet the project’s special food quality control requirements, the food processing operation needed to flow through the building and the manager needed to be able to view the topping operation area from their office. This was achieved by tailoring the design layout, so the location of the manager’s office was adjacent to the most crucial section of the production line, and a window was included to provide uninterrupted viewing.

 “From the early stages of the design, through to project delivery, there was absolute trust between Romano's and Apollo Projects,” James says. “This made everything run extremely smoothly throughout the build.”

 Despite challenges along the way, that included COVID-19, supply issues, consent delays, and ground contamination work due to the fire, the build was completed on time and within the client’s budget.

 “The highlight of working on this project was the client, and the great people who put their trust in us,” James says.