One of the new plants will produce biological cereals and the other one will produce pasta, with €35 million invested altogether.
The development of biological grain production infrastructure cost €22.7 million, of which the European Union (EU) co-financed around 22%. The capacity of the plant will be around 50,000 tonnes of cereal per year.
More than 95% of the organic cereal flakes produced in the company are expected to be exported, thereby significantly encouraging and increasing exports of high-value-added products and enabling Latvia to take a competitive position in the global market for organic products, Dobeles Dzirnavnieks said.
€12.4 million has been invested in the creation of the pasta production plant, of which EU funding is around 26%. Dobeles Dzirnavnieks has been producing pasta since 2012 and currently makes 48 different types and shapes of pasta distributed both domestically and exported to Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. The new plant will have the possibility to produce a significantly wider range of products, including products not yet on the market. The production capacity will be around 40,000 tonnes a year.
As the company grows, the number of jobs in Dobele is also increasing. The two newly created plants will provide jobs for dozens of people.
“This is a benefit for everyone. First of all, it is a benefit for the environment by farming organically, environmentally friendly. The second is the benefit for the farmers themselves. Consumption is growing year after year, and the public is very aware of the importance of organic farming and the importance of organic food in nutrition,” said Gustavs Norkārklis, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Latvian Organic Agriculture.
