LATVIA
Elanders recovers slowly from the crisis
Adapting to low demand and high raw material prices has been difficult Rollmops are a traditional pickled herring rolled around a vegetable such as onion, olive, or gherkin, and fastened with one or two wooden pins. However, in the Latvian variation, this product is prepared as a rolled herring fillet, and wooden pins are not used. The rolls are placed in a marinade, to which vegetables are added if necessary, and typically sold in jars or tubs at the retail level. Rollmops are consumed all over northern Europe including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Scandinavia, the three Baltic States and Poland.
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n Latvia the company Elanders processes herring into a variety of products including rollmops. The company is owned by Alla Savina and Genrih Pokotinsky who developed it in the late 90s following a visit to Germany. The trip encompassed visits to companies making similar products as well as to exhibitions of seafood and processing equipment. But possibly, the company that made the greatest impact was a manufacturer of condiments and spices, who showed them how they could make better and tastier products naturally.
Production inspired in Germany Armed with this knowledge Ms Savina and Mr Pokotinsky returned to Latvia to develop their business. Much of the equipment that was needed in the production they found was cheaper to have made in Latvia rather than buy it off the shelf. Elanders also moved the production to a bigger site on the outskirts of Riga. In addition to rollmops the company produced salted fish, fish marinated in different sauces, as well as smoked fish. Much of the production was based on Baltic herring, but sprats, mackerel, and salmon were also used. www.eurofishmagazine.com
The company had also developed a market in Estonia, but the Estonians took care of their own distribution. Between 2006 and 2007 turnover increased by 17 from EUR2.45m to EUR2.86m.
Alla Savina and Genrih Pokotinsky, the directors of Elanders.
The company was also producing tailor-made products for their clients who made requests for their own individual tastes and flavours. Production and sales increased as
demand went up. Elanders had its own distribution operation with a fleet of vehicles which brought the products to every corner of Latvia as well as deep into Lithuania.
Elanders Ltd. Company Fact File Jaunciema gatve 320 LV 1015 Riga Latvia Tel.: +371 7343477 Fax: +371 7343028 elanders@elanders.lv www.elanders.lv Directors: Ms Alla Savina and Mr Genrih Pokotinsky
Products: Wide range of herring preserves; smoked mackerel, salmon, and trout; seaweed salads Volumes of raw material: 50 tonnes of herring a month, smaller volumes of the other fish Markets: Latvia, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, and the Czech Republic
But then the global financial and economic crisis struck. Latvia was one of the worst affected countries. After averaging GDP growth of 11 from 2005 to 2007 GDP fell by 3 in 2008 and dropped again by a huge 18 in 2009 before increasing by less than a half percent in 2010, according to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. At Elanders between 2007 and 2011 the turnover shrunk by 40 to EUR1.7m. From 80 employees we went down to 50, says Ms Savina. Demand for our products just dropped as people could not afford them any longer. Many had lost their jobs and could no longer spend as much as they had in the past, others retained their jobs,
A selection of Elanders’ products waiting to be shipped to local buyers. Eurofish Magazine 2/ 2012
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