Cluj-based dairy producer Napolact will transfer its fermented cheese production operations to Carei. The move is needed in order to comply with the norms imposed by the European Union that do not allow for a factory to be located in the centre of a city as is the case with Napolact in Cluj, market sources say.
"It's just rumours. We have made no decision in this regard and whatever we might decide we'd still be consulting with the union first," said Gerbrand de Boer, Napolact's general manager. Ioana Iures, Napolact brand manager in her turn said the closing of the factory in Cluj was due to the poor condition the equipment was in.
"The technology in the current factory was rudimentary and the production involved a lot of hand labour. The factory in Carei is equipped in line with the European standards," Iures said.
She added the move was part of the policy to make the production process of the Cluj-based company efficient.
Tudor Turcu-David, a brand manager of the company, said Carei hosted the only factory in Romania up to the required European Union standards. The factory in Cluj employs 30 people. Friesland, Napolact's majority shareholder, already has productive facilities in Carei for the Milli and Oke milk product brands.
Dots chocolate-coated bars are similarly produced in Carei and distributed by Friesland through the Napolact chain. De Boer stated that the production of Dots, launched on the market in February, took a 250,000-euro investment in equipment.
The entry on the market was concurrent with an aggressive advertising campaign worth 500,000 euros, De Boer said.
The Dots goods that go to the Czech, Slovakian and Hungarian markets are made in Hungary.
The company logged some 668bn ROL (16.4 million euro) turnover in the first half, 14% more than in the same period last year, while net profits remained at approximately 100bn ROL (2.5 million euros).
claudia.covaci@zf.ro ; transilvania@zf.ro
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