The Fazer Group expands its bakery operations to Moscow

The Fazer Group expands its operations in Russia as it acquires a bakery in Moscow called OAO Experimentalny Konditersko-Bulochny Kombinat “Zvezdny”. Zvezdny is one of the biggest manufacturers of bake-off pizza and frozen dough in Russia. The bakery also manufactures pastries and fresh bread. In line with the Group’s strategy, the acquisition of the Zvezdny bakery considerably strengthens the position the Group has in the bakery business in Russia.
Fazer has acquired 96.68 per cent of the shares of the Zvezdny bakery. In 2004, the turnover of Zvezdny was approximately 830 million roubles (approximately 23 million euros) and it employs all together roughly one thousand people. On a yearly basis, Zvezdny manufactures some 1,800 tonnes of bake-off pizzas and 5,100 tonnes of frozen dough, as well as 12,900 tonnes of bread, 6,100 tonnes of pastries and 1,240 tonnes of rusk.
One of the strategic goals of the Fazer Group is to grow in the Baltic Sea region, where Fazer Bakeries holds a leading position in the market. Through its Hlebny Dom bakery operations, Fazer Bakeries is a market leader with its 27 per cent market share in the Greater St. Petersburg area. In addition to Finland and Russia, Fazer Bakeries has operations in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as export operations to approximately twenty countries. Fazer Bakeries has been operating in Russia since 1997.