“Laima” factory in Ādaži is commissioned

Construction of the new “Laima” production facility was completed on March 16, 2020, almost a month ahead of schedule. The new plant will provide at least two opportunities. Firstly, it make it possible to produce popular sweets in a modern work environment. Secondly, the plant will also provide growth opportunities, enabling extensive cooperation with other companies of the “Orkla Group”.

Comment of Mihails Peščinskis, the project manager at Merks
“The modern “Laima” production complex consists of five buildings – a two-storey production facility and several technical buildings. Total area is 7,820m2. Materials of the highest quality were selected and used in construction of the complex in order to achieve the goal set by the customer – to build an energy efficient and safe production unit according to the highest quality standards. One of the biggest challenges during the project was construction of the engineering systems. They are very bulky, labour-intensive, and able to adapt to four different temperature and humidity regimes needed in the chocolate production process. While the building may seem simple from the outside, its infrastructure is complicated and maximally digitized. The plant has also been awarded energy efficiency class A.“

Comment of Toms Didrihsons, Chief Executive Officer at “Orkla Latvija”
“I am pleased that we have made the most out of the unique opportunity to create a building that is adapted to the production technology, not the other way around. This means that production will not only be efficient and accurate, guaranteeing quality of the products, but also convenient and comfortable for more than 100 of our colleagues who will work here.”

With the plant officially completed, it is needed get to work on the next, final stage. Respectively, the relocation and installation of the production lines and making of test products. The company’s current priority is the safety and health of its employees. Therefore, taking into consideration the state of emergency and safety measures introduced in Latvia, the process has been postponed. But it will be implemented as soon as it is possible.