Kraft transfers Smash and Chokotoff production to services provider

American giant Kraft Foods, which said at the end of 2008 that it would close down its plant in Brasov, with 440 employees, will transfer some of the production facilities to its maintenance services provider, Rap Confectionery in Brasov. The company, a part of the Rap group, held by Radu Popeia, will produce Smash chocolate bars and Chokotoff chocolates, according to Kraft Foods representatives. The company did not reveal the value of two brands’ sales or the volume of production. The new partnership with Kraft marks the entry into production of the Rap group in Brasov, which specialises in supplying industrial equipment, as well as design and maintenance services for food production lines. One of the projects that the group held by Popeia has underway is the construction of a potato processing facility for Intersnack, in Brasov. The largest company in the group, Raptronic, reported a 9 million-RON (2.7 million-euro) turnover in 2007, with 74 employees, and 1.2 million RON (0.3 million euros) in net profit, according to data from the Ministry of Finance. Kraft Foods will also transfer some of the employees of the plant set for closure this year, but company representatives did not specify their number. Chocolate tablets and coffee currently account for the bulk of Kraft Foods Romania’s sales, with the company posting turnover estimated at over 160 million euros last year.