With the acquisition, Food Union has added Central Eastern Europe to its production capacity and geographical sales, alongside the Baltic states, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS countries and the Far East.
Food Union founder and owner Andrey Beskhmelnitskiy said that he was impressed by the technology, infrastructure and product portfolio of Alpin57Lux.
“It is a well-run business led by a strong family and team of professionals passionate about ice cream, pastry and bakery,” he said.
“Our experience in the dairy and ice cream business, as well as regional positioning, will help to ensure continuous prosperity of Alpin57Lux.”
Bakery and vegetables in portfolio
Ioan Istrate, general manager and minor shareholder at Alpin57Lux, said the business started in 1993 as a family enterprise that now produces more than 80 tons of ice cream daily at its Sebes facility.
Alpin57Lux focuses on ice cream production, and has a product portfolio of more than 100 SKUs. Other products include Maestro Alpin frozen vegetables, and fresh and refrigerated pastry and bakery under the Romcherie brand.
Istrate said that while he will still run the company, the coming years will bring growth that the company could not have achieved independently.
“The products that we have created with so much love deserve the financial support of Food Union,” he said.
Food Union Group companies:
Rīgas Piena Kombināts (Latvia)
Rīgas Piensaimnieks (Latvia)
Valmieras Piens (Latvia)
Premia (Estonia)
Premier Is (Denmark)
Isbjørn Is (Norway)
Alpin57Lux (Romania)
Increasing domestic consumption a goal
Alpin57Lux has a fleet of more than 250 vehicles and its own national distribution network. Currently, the company has a 20% market share and approximate turnover in 2015 of approximately €18m ($20.5m).
Normunds Staņēvičs, chairman of the board at AS Rīgas Piena Kombināts (Food Union), said that one of the main goals of the acquisition of the company was to increase sales within Romania.
He said that ice cream consumption in the country is three times lower than the European average.
Food Union is the largest milk processing company and the leading food and beverage producer in Latvia, as well as the top ice cream maker in the Baltic countries.