Over the last three years, AS Balticovo, the producer of egg products and eggs, has invested more than 26 million euros in its own development and the development of its industry. In accordance with Balticovo’s plans for the future, the company shareholders decided to spend its 2019 profits on continuing its rapid growth.
In 2019, Balticovo introduced a number of projects important for Iecava Municipality and the Latvian economy, such as the beginning of the construction of the most advanced biological waste water treatment facility in the country, which cost more than 2 million euros, as well as the launching of the first large free-range chicken enclosure in the Baltics, which took approximately a million euros in investments.
Investment projects make it possible for Balticovo to increase its production capacity and to sell more of its products that are in demand on export markets, such as eggs laid by free-range chickens (marked ‘1’), eggs laid by chickens kept in cage-free conditions (marked ‘2’), as well as liquid egg products made out of eggs laid by cage-free birds, and sold in eco-friendly TetraPak packaging, such as the Eva liquid egg product line.
In 2019, the turnover of Balticovo was 50.91 million euros, which is 2.24 more than in 2018. Balticovo produced 661 million eggs, with a year-on-year increase of 12 million eggs. Last year, the company generated 1.6 million euros in profits, and its shareholders made the strategic decision to spend the profits on implementing company development projects.
The 2019 profits were affected by an increase in the prime cost of eggs brought about by the poor harvest in 2018. The price of feed rose by an average of 30%.
‘We see that the topic of companies operating in a sustainable and eco-friendly way is gaining importance. This is a decade, in which every company must set being environmentally neutral without stopping its growth as one of its priorities. We believe that every investment in improving production technology pays off, and investments in sustainable production will result in both financial and environmental benefits,’ Toms Auškāps, Balticovo communication and development director, explained.
The construction of the waste water treatment facility began in 2019, and was completed in June 2020. The new facility can treat 750 m3 of water every 24 hours, with an equivalent capacity that could cover 20,000 people: double the population of Iecava Municipality. This treatment facility is currently the most advanced in Latvia.
Another construction project that had begun in 2019 was completed this August: the biggest cage-free enclosure facility for chickens in the Baltics, with one enclosure for chicks, and three enclosures for egg-laying hens, with a total production capacity of 120 million eggs every year.
As part of its continuous development, Balticovo plans to put another large free-range facility for chickens into operation: it will accommodate 20,000 birds that will be able to roam within an area of eight hectares. There are also plans to launch another production unit in 2021, with the total investments expected to be as high as 10 million euros.
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