Kraft Foods Bulgaria To Open 20.4 Mln Euro Production Lines in Oct

SOFIA (Bulgaria), September 15 (SeeNews) – Kraft Foods Bulgaria said on Tuesday it will launch several technological lines and solutions worth a combined 40 million levs ($29.9 million/20.4 million euro) in its confectionery production unit in the town of Svoge in early October.
 
“[The investment] confirms Kraft Foods'  confidence in good business opportunities in Bulgaria and its role in the regional context. On the other side, the investment also shows the company’s high estimate of local management,” Kraft Foods Bulgaria executive director Franco Del Fabbro said in a statement.
 
The upgrade of the plant in Svoge, 33 kilometres north of Sofia, will open 120 jobs directly and a further 200 indirectly, Del Fabbro said.
 
Kraft Foods Bulgaria has also a coffee production unit in Kostinbrod, located just 15 kilometres north of Sofia. Last October it invested 800,000 euro to double its coffee-processing capacity and pledged to invest another 1.0 million levs this year.
 
Following the investment, the plant's annual capacity for processing Jacobs coffee was doubled to 17,000 tonnes from 8,500 tonnes. The plant also processes coffee under the Jacobs and Nova Brasilia brands.
 
Kraft Foods entered Bulgaria in 1993 when it bought the Republica confectionery plant in Svoge where it manufactures Moreni wafers, Svoge Republica bars and tablets Milka, Toblerone, Suchard Sensations, Svoge and Mlechen.
 
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)