15 June 2007 - Leaf International, a Dutch confectionery producer, has started the production of sweets in a new plant in Levice, Slovakia, reports the local press.
The Levice plant, which cost about 30 million euro, was built to supply Leaf’s main products to the Scandinavian, Dutch, French and UK markets.
The plant currently has a production capacity of 6,000 tons of sweets per year and can be upgraded to 15,000 tons, add the press reports.
The plant, which has 200 employees, may even hire 300 extra people to meet the 15,000 ton target by 2009, claims one report.
Leaf International has 14 branches across Europe and has been present in Slovakia since 2005. The confectionery company employs 3,200 people worldwide.
Leaf is a spin off company from CSM which sold its sugar confectionery business in 2005 to CVC Capital and Nordic Capital. Leaf holds a leading market position in Western Europe in all three sugar confectionary segments: candy, chewing gum and pastilles, claims to company.
The company is the market leader for chewing gum in the Netherlands and Finland thanks to its Jenkki and Sportlife brands, and also leads the pastilles market in Sweden, Norway and Finland with ist Lökerol and Mynthon brands.
The firm also claims to be the candy market leader in the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden with ist sales of Red Band, Malaco and Lutti sweets, as well as second in the French, Finnish and Italian candy markets with Leaf and Lutti. Finally, Leaf has a leading position in the UK with ist Chewits brand.