Brabantia Latvia goes full capacity

Dutch company Brabantia (http://www.brabantia.com/), Europe’s leading supplier of innovative household products, opened a production plant in Latvia in 2008. After a number of Eastern European countries were evaluated starting from December 2005, Brabantia first contacted the LIAA Representative Office in the Netherlands. After two years of research and numerous visits, Brabantia finally chose Latvia as it offered the best match for the project.

The main reasons for selecting Latvia were well-developed metalworking traditions, Latvia’s membership to the EU and Euro-pegged currency, business friendly environment and professional support provided by LIAA investment specialists.

Marcel van de Velde, Brabantia’s Production Director, admitted that “The support and the professional assistance from LIAA was one of the main reasons why Latvia was chosen as the right place to start a production plant.”

Since 2008, Brabantia developed a production site near Talsi city, about 100 km distance northwest from the capital city of Riga. In the first phase of the project Brabantia renovated a brownfield site of 3 500 m2 as well as built an additional 3 300 m2.

At present Brabantia operates 6000 m2 and employs more than 60 employees. On September 22nd the new production plant will be officially opened and the production will take on full capacity for ironing boards and laundry dryers. Currently weekly 5000-6000 ironing boards and 4000 laundry dryers are produced. Since the start up of the factory in 2008, over 200,000 ironing boards marked Made in Latvia were produced.

Compared to last year the production has doubled, says Georgijs Bukovskis, Director of Brabantia Latvia. In 2010 the production amounted to 2,8 million LVL and planned turnover for 2011 is 7 million LVL.

Brabantia Latvia manufactures more than 20 different types of ironing board for both domestic and professional use. The company’s mission is to develop sturdy household products that retain their good looks and performance for more than ten years. Brabantia Latvia products are mostly made for export to its parent company with further distribution via the Brabantia distribution network.

The main markets for Brabantia are the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Prior to deciding upon a new factory in one of the new EU member states, Brabantia already operated three factories in Europe and two in China.

Source: db.lv & LIAA