The Silver Lining at Cadbury India's Chocolate Factory

The work has been carried out at the company's Induri plant located in Pune, on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Having recently been acquired by Mondeléz International - an American multinational food and beverage conglomerate with its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois - a major refurbishment project was set in motion for Cadbury India's 40 year old Induri plant, with flooring highlighted as a critical focus of the overhaul amongst other improvements to facilities.

Around 7,000 square metres of Flowcrete Group's antimicrobial and seamless polyurethane flooring system, Flowfresh MF at 4mm, were selected for application across all corridors, as well as in the staff canteen, chocolate moulding areas and raw material storage rooms.

Another 1,500 square metres of a heavy duty alternative from the same range, Flowfresh RT, were applied at 6mm within the plant's oven crumb facility, which is subjected to extremely high temperatures and thermal shock conditions.

Both Flowfresh MF and Flowfresh RT contain a silver-based antimicrobial agent, Polygiene®, which destroys gram positive and gram negative bacteria on contact and remains active for the lifetime of the floor.

In addition, some 25,000 square metres of Flowcrete's wall coating system, Flowguard WB were applied across all wall and ceiling areas, as well as 2,500 meters of polyurethane coving to ensure a hygienic transition between the floor and wall.

The entire project represented a challenging undertaking for Flowcrete Group. Not only did the 40 year old plant host a wide variety of existing substrate conditions - ranging from Kota stone to damaged epoxy finishes - but the entire installation had to take place over a tight 12 day shutdown period.

Flowcrete Group's approved applicator M/S 3S Coatings Pvt Ltd dedicated a 120-strong skilled workforce to the project, which - divided into three teams - worked around the clock to deliver a fully operational facility on deadline for the chocolate giant.

Vivekanandan Margasahayam, Managing Director of Flowcrete India, part of the Flowcrete Group, said: "This is a very prestigious project for us, which demonstrates our ability to deliver the complete flooring solution in food and beverage environments."