Parmalat completes first stage of new Tunari project

Parmalat Romania, a branch of the Italian foods giant, which went through a severe financial scandal over a year ago, has completed the first phase of an investment in its Santal juice factory in Tunari, Bucharest, this week.

“We made a significant investment in the acquisition of a new production line at our facility in Tunari, because we changed the packaging on most of the Santal cartons. It regards a type of packaging that has a new design and a new type of lid,” stated Gianpaolo Manzonetto, Parmalat Romania”s general manager. He did not go on to reveal the value of the investment, but stated that it was but the first of three steps for their 2005 investment plan.

“Our investments last year amounted to 1 million euros, and they will be much higher this year, but I cannot tell you how much before October 1, at which time our parent company from Italy will be re-listed on the stock market,” the Parmalat Romania official said.

Italy”s Parmalat, one of the leading foods groups of the world, sought the protection of the bankruptcy law in 2003, after it revealed unexplained debt in excess of 10bn euros. The company was scheduled to be re-listed this summer, but the move was postponed until the autumn.

Despite having announced lower revenues for 2004, the company”s brands have not lost much of their value as a result of the scandal. Parmalat”s revenues amounted to nearly 4bn euros in 2004, 650 million euros less than in the previous year.

Parmalat”s main brand on the domestic market is Santal, which is one of the leading products on the natural juice market. The company has two production facilities, one in Baia Mare and one in Bucharest, both of which employ more than 130 people. “As a result of the investments in production, the company is now raising the number of employees,” Manzonetto added.

He declined to reveal any of last year”s financial information for Parmalat Romania. The company”s goal for 2004 was for a turnover of about 10 million euros: 20% higher than 2003.

Manzonetto, on the other hand, said that sales of Santal-branded juice had risen “higher than the market average.” “It”s true the cool weather didn”t help the market, but our sales went up because of the investments made last year, to change the bottle packaging,” the official commented.