Food producer Alka will invest over EUR 11.5 million in building a new factory for crackers and snacks, which will be located in Ploiesti, Southern Romania.

The factory will cover over 10,000 sqm. The area includes a production hall, a warehouse for raw materials, an administrative building, a technical center and a shop with a terrace.

The company has received a public non-reimbursable grant worth EUR 2.4 million for this investment. Another EUR 3.5 million comes from private co-financing.

In the first stage, the new plant will create about 100 new jobs. The investment will be an integrated chain type, from the takeover of the main raw material to the direct sale to consumers.

Alka also has a factory in Bucharest. The group recorded a turnover of RON 155 million (EUR 33.7 million) last year. It currently has 600 employees.

Alka was established in 1994 as a greenfield investment. The company produces wafers, biscuits, and packaged dried fruits and nuts. It was founded by Israeli investor Amir Krenzia. He recently transferred his shares in the company to a firm in Switzerland, after the local media reported that the anti-organized crime directorate DIICOT started a tax evasion investigation that may have also targeted Alka.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Alkagroup.ro)