Following the closure of the Ardo factory in Groß-Enzersdorf, the Marchfeld producer organization for frozen vegetables (ETG) is considering setting up its own processing line for leafy vegetables. A delegation led by ETG chairman Robert Kriegl and ETG managing director Norbert Friedrich visited a deep-freeze plant abroad on Tuesday. “We went to see a factory in Switzerland, it wasn’t a big factory, but rather something smaller and more flexible,” says Kriegl. “In terms of the basic concept, it is a possibility that we are now of course continuing to examine.”
For the Marchfelder cooperative, the focus is on the future processing of spinach into frozen leaf and cream spinach. The visit to the border with Liechtenstein took place through one of the 500 ETG member companies that maintains contacts in Switzerland. There are several deep-freezing plants in Switzerland that process vegetables from Swiss farmers.
“Don’t do it alone”
According to Kriegl, the plant on the border with Liechtenstein is not comparable to the size of the Ardo plant in Groß-Enzersdorf. A work of Ardo’s size costs 70 million to 100 million euros.
But smaller processing plants for spinach also require investments in the double-digit million range. “Let’s put it this way: We won’t be able to do this alone,” admits Kriegl. They are looking for partners, but the distribution of roles has not yet been clarified.
Economic efficiency calculations
Insiders report that business plans are already being drawn up and profitability calculations are being carried out. “Now we’re just screwing, tinkering and informing in order to be able to continue on this path and possibilities,” says Kriegl. “Business plan? Of course, when you’re working on it, you have to present something because you have to offer someone who wants to invest, can, should, a perspective, because you won’t get any money just like that.”
Kriegl is “cautiously optimistic”. The process is dynamic, many details are still open. It is unclear when a decision will be made. The ETG also emphasizes that it does not want to come into direct competition with the Schneider family and their company Schneiders Vegetableland, which will take over parts of production after the Ardo closure. “We want to achieve something together for the region. For Marchfeld,” explains Kriegl. However, the Schneider family cannot currently process spinach – this is exactly the gap that ETG wants to close.
Shock freezing systems
The original idea of the policy was a complete replacement of Ardo production, said Kriegl. This claim has been “partially fulfilled through the promises made by the Schneider family, but not yet in the area of leafy vegetables.” It is also unclear where one can obtain shock freezing systems in an acceptable period of time.
These are manufactured in China, Denmark, Sweden and Turkey, among others.