German food giant Dr Oetker has set out plans to for a new headquarters in Serbia that will comprise office, warehouse and production facilities.
Dr Oetker has started building on the site in Simonavci, 30km from its current rented office and production base in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.
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The plant will produce products sold under the company’s Dr Oetker and C brands, with a capacity of 6,000 tons a year. The project is expected to be complete in 18 months.
Nataša Predic, product manager for Dr Oetker’s Serbian unit, said the new site would become the company’s “only business unit” in Serbia. However, she insisted the move would not lead to jobs being lost.
“We plan to increase the number of employees in the future with the expansion of capacity,” Predic told just-food.
According to figures for 2013, Oetker generates 67% of sales outside Germany. The privately-owned maker of products from baking mixes to pizza posted sales of EUR2.13bn for last year, up 2.3%. On an organic basis, excluding factors like foreign exchange, sales were up 3.9%.
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By GlobalDataDomestic sales grew 2.4% to EUR706m. Oetker pointed to slowing economic growth in Germany but pointed to higher frozen food sales in its home market. Overseas, sales increased 2.2% to EUR1.4bn.
Earlier this week, Dr Oetker CEO Richard Oetker, speaking after the company posted an increase in annual group sales, said the business saw “further growth opportunities, especially abroad”.
