• ALKA Group, one of the biggest players on the salty and sweet snack market, a company founded almost 30 years ago by the Krenzia family, invested 25 million euros in the factory in Ploiești, inaugurated in 2019, and is already thinking about expansion, as ALKA products reach over 50 countries, on 5 continents.
The ALKA group, owned by the Krenzia family from Israel, includes the companies ALKA Co., producer of wafers, biscuits, coffee, ALKA Pro, producer of dried fruits, with a production unit in Filipeștii de Pădure in Prahova county and ALKA Trading, distributor of the group's products.
Company was established in 1994, ca greenfield investment. At that time, ALKA was the first company in Romania producing and distributing packaged, vacuumed and bagged ground coffee.
Since then, ALKA has invested tens of millions of euros in technology and in the development of local production. In October 2010, ALKA sold the division Nutline, which held over 50% of the roasted seed market, to the company Intersnack. The Nutline division had a turnover of 22 million euros and a profit of 1,2 million euros in 2009.
In 2022, ALKA recorded a turnover of 381 million lei and had over 900 employees. Currently, Alka Group is one of the market leaders of FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods), specialized in the production of wafers, cakes, coffee, seeds and salty snacks of the best quality.
Anticipating consumer preferences
ALKA Group's development strategy is based on innovation, the company constantly investing in knowing, understanding and anticipating the needs and preferences of the profile market and launching new products, recipes, flavors, packaging. Moreover, the company's slogan is "As you like".
ALKA produces over 100 million bags of snacks per year, which reach the shelves of hundreds of thousands of stores in Romania and abroad.
Begun in 2018, the investment in the ALKA Group factory in Ploieşti, where the company produces baked salty snacks, amounted to 25 million euros, over half of the amount being allocated to the second stage of development, recently completed.
A statement from the company conveys that out of the total of 25 million euros, 4,2 million were invested in the factory body, 2,8 million in its warehouse, and the largest part, 18 million, in the production equipment.
ALKA Group also owns a factory in Bucharest, where it produces sweet snacks under brands such as Prăjitura Casei, Alfers and Alka Biscuits, as well as coffee.
At the factory in Ploiesti, with an area of 6.600 square meters built and a warehouse with a finished product capacity of 4.000 pallets, production is focused on baked salty snack brands. This production point is also the place where local resources of flour, sugar, packaging and other secondary raw materials are used to obtain Alka products. Over 12.000 tons of Romanian wheat are transformed into products such as Toortitzii, Soocitzii or Meteoritzii.
Major importance of investments
Adi Hirsch, CEO of ALKA Group, underlines the importance of the investment: "The factory in Ploieşti represents a project that we believed in from the first draft and in which we continuously invested so that we could be as close as possible to the needs and wishes of Alka product lovers. Recent investments help us to continue to be one of the important players in the Romanian food industry, with almost 30 years of experience as a local producer".
He also adds: "We are proud of our contribution to Romania's economy and through the jobs created, but the greatest joy for us is that through our products invented and produced in Romania, which reach hundreds of millions of people on 5 continents, we have unofficially become Romania's culinary ambassadors in the world".
And things do not stop here, the company has new development projects in the future, as one of the founders, Amir Krenzia, declares for Ziarul Financiar:
“As we speak, we have new projects underway. The next phase is coming right on this platform, double what we have now. We know the future very well, we are very well anchored in the Romanian consumer economy."
Amir Krenzia declares that he does not consider moving part of the production of the factory from Bucharest to the one from Ploiești: "The production here will only be for these product categories. Here we have 51.000 square meters and there are two entrances, the whole platform is designed to work as it should. We still have work to do only in the category of salty snacks. In Bucharest, we will think about a development in the future."
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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