Rain can't stop 5m euro ice-cream investment

Ice-cream producer Betty & Criss Prod, headquartered in Suceava, has initiated an investment worth 5 million euros in a new production unit, according to Vasile Armenean, the company’s general manager and sole shareholder.

This is one of the few investments in ice-cream production announced over the last few years. The investment will be unfolded despite the fact that the ice-cream market has registered a steep decrease this year because of the rainy weather.

“We have started building up a new ice-cream plant in the same location, in Suceava, which will occupy an area of 5,000 square metres. The first stage, involving investments standing at 5 million euros, will be finalised in 2006,” said Vasile Armenean. The current headquarters will be sold, while the currently owned production lines will be transferred to the new location.

“We have permanently invested in expansion up to the point where we’ve come to feel stifled in our current location. Therefore, we have decided to change our location since we plan to continue our expansion. The new plant is situated in the northern part of the city of Suceava, where a new industrial platform comprising trade centres and light industry plants is being developed,” Armenean also stated.

The firm’s representative was unwilling to unveil the company’s turnover, but, according to some estimations, this revolves around 8 million euros per year, which places the company among the top three players on the market, after Delta Romania and Napolact Cluj.

Betty & Criss Prod is 100% owned by Vasile Armenean, a Romanian-born Austrian citizen. Set up in 1994, in the wake of a greenfield investment, the company currently has over 250 employees. At present, Betty & Criss Prod has a constructed area of 1,200 square metres and a production capacity of 4,000 tonnes per year, according to information supplied by the company. Equipment is bought from Danish suppliers.

The investment is financed from the company’s own sources, as well as from banking ones.

Close to the end of the season, ice-cream producers are reporting 30% lower revenues as compared to the previous season, because of the cool and rainy weather that has significantly reduced consumption.

Though there is no data available related to the entire market, statements by the main market players are pointing to a slump.

Betty & Criss Prod representatives say the market has gone down this year and that these decreases cannot be recouped.
georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro