At a time when regular job changes are considered a norm and even a confirmation of personal growth, Eva Sietiņsone I’ll have a beer has been running for almost 20 years. During this time, the company’s products have become the most popular in the country and have kept this title for more than ten years. Under her leadership I’ll have a beer as the first food producer to receive the highest rating in the Sustainability Index.
How did the company do last year?
I cannot reveal the financial data at the moment, because the annual report has not been published yet, but last year we experienced rapid business growth. Three things contributed to this. The first – the past was the first full year when I’ll have a beer worked in the group Additional beer, which is our subsidiary. Second, we bought the brand Everest and we are developing in the water segment. And it must be admitted that the segment of water and soft drinks is growing compared to other segments which are stagnant. The third thing that ensured this growth – last year we officially started distributing in Latvia Corona beer. It is basically the only imported beer in Latvia that is really popular and developing.
You said that the soft drink segment is developing. What else besides water is offered in this segment I’ll have a beer?
A non-alcoholic alternative to alcoholic beverages is now fashionable and socially responsible at the same time. Buyers should be given the opportunity to choose the same products that are traditionally alcoholic, but without alcohol.
The non-alcoholic beer market in Latvia is still not large, it occupies 1% of the total beer market, but the trend is increasing. If we look at the Baltic countries and Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, we can see a wide selection of non-alcoholic products in stores. In Latvia, this trend is not yet so pronounced.
Perhaps it is slowly being introduced in our country as well, the soft drinks market is developing, but the products in Latvia are very good. We have both Piebalga non-alcoholic beer and Bruža unfiltered non-alcoholic beer, which has achieved very good indicators. We also have non-alcoholic products in the cocktail and cider segment.
Once upon a time I’ll have a beer was proud to be almost the only one producing in Latvia and using barley grown in Latvia. Is that still true?
First of all, I would like to emphasize that I believe that it is our competitive advantage that we produce our products in Latvia. I’ll have a beer is the only one of the large manufacturers that has a production facility in Latvia and that manufactures all products in Latvia. in Cesis and Jaunpiebalg, Additional beer in the production plant, we employ a total of 300 people.
We still buy part of the necessary barley from Latvian producers, but the supply of barley and malt here is very small. There are small volumes, not enough to produce our volumes. That’s why we buy part in Europe.
How much beer and other drinks do you produce per season?
This June was an absolute record month for us. In total, we have launched 11 million liters of products – both beer and other beverages – on the Latvian market in June. We produce about 100 million liters per year. About 70% of them are beer.
The normal brewing period for beer is three to four weeks. We also have it, but in order to sell beer in summer according to the great demand, we prepare for the season well in advance and do pre-production in the spring.
Which is your most popular product?
Our flagship and best-selling product remains Cēsis Premium, which has been the most popular beer in Latvia for more than ten years. In recent years, Latvia has been developing more and more premium beer segment, therefore for such brands as Additional beer, Corona, Bruža beer and Mītava still in the development period. People are willing to pay more and more for their favorite product and enjoy it.
Premium the category includes beer, which has a higher price in the store, and this relatively high price is formed in the same way as, for example, clothing. The value is in the brand itself, in which the investment was made to create it, and the specific characteristics of the beer, which many other beers do not have. in Latvia for premium beer can be called all traditional Latvian beer brands that we have had for more than 20 years. Consumers see it as premium product and are willing to pay more.
I don’t know premium beers differ in terms of characteristics? For example, in our case Additional beer is one of the rare beers in Latvia that is fermented with open fermentation technology. It used to brew beer too I’ll have a beer and other manufacturers. Piebalgas alum is open fermentation and beer connoisseurs appreciate it. The fermentation time is also longer, such beer is aged longer.
What is the proportion of exports? When you enter other markets, do you try to adapt to them, for example by renaming products?
We export about 20% of production. The main market is Latvia. We export both ciders and cocktails, as well as beer, but we are specific with beer, because the brand must be understood in the countries where it is marketed. Yes, we also have private brands or adapted brands to better suit the specific market, but we also market our own brands, especially in Ireland and England. Own brands such as Cēsis Premiumwe will not adapt to the needs of other markets, rather we can develop a new private brand if it is interesting and profitable.
I’ll have a beer has been recognized as the best employer in Vidzeme. Isn’t it just because you are also one of the largest employers in the region?
We are not the biggest, but we are definitely an important employer in a region with almost zero unemployment. If we are recognized as the best employer, we can be proud of it, but not only because of this title.
The company is stable, it is still very valuable in Vidzeme. Our employees have social guarantees, a stable salary that increases according to the market. So that we do not judge our value as an employer only by this title, we also conduct internal employee satisfaction surveys. We did it again this year and the results are very good.
People appreciate the technology they work with, the work environment, clear responsibilities and knowledgeable managers. We make sure that people feel good and safe, occupational safety is a very high priority for us, and our goal is to have no accidents in the factory.
What kind of company has employee turnover, do people work here for a long time?
Many have been working in the company for more than 20 years, including me. And at the same time, there is employee turnover, especially among younger employees. We are working on it, studying which positions have the highest turnover.
The biggest rotation is in work where there is a physical load. Therefore, we are working to automate these processes as much as possible in the future, so that there is less and less physical work, so that it is easier and more interesting for people.
How big is the need for qualified labor in the company? Isn’t it the case that most jobs can only be done with strength and some basic skills?
I think that the future is in skilled labor. More and more processes are automated, we train employees to have a qualified workforce.
We have two brewmasters who received education abroad, because in Latvia you cannot become a brewer, a beer technologist, there is no such program. There are food technologists, there are beverage technologists, but brewing is not taught here. Our technologists have studied in Germany to gain in-depth knowledge of beer brewing technologies. The boiling house and the fermenting house work under their management, all employees there are qualified.
In Soviet times, it was hardly possible for brewmasters to acquire knowledge abroad. I also support self-learning and experiential learning. Our chief clerk has been working here for 35 years, his parents also worked in the company. He gained knowledge through experience, but he also later studied in Germany. I value theoretical knowledge, it broadens my horizons and gives me a very strong foundation.
The next stage is already the filling plant, where we have four lines – cans, PET bottles, glass containers and kegs that we offer Catering industry. There, the qualifications of the employees will differ according to the need, according to the technological requirements, because there are machines that are very specific, there are some that require physical work, but the newer the machines, the easier it is for the employee to work with them.
Our goal is for the equipment to be more friendly to the environment and the employee, so that physical work becomes less and less in the future. Therefore, the bottling plant operator also needs technological knowledge. But there are also simpler jobs that are just as important.
You mentioned types of containers. Has the company noticed any positive changes after implementing the deposit system?
It was a very big project and the deposit system is working well. In the first year, we recovered 70% of all packaging launched on the market.
Glass bottles come back up to 100%, before the deposit system we were getting back about 60 percent. Of course, maybe the glass container is not the biggest and most dangerous polluter of nature, but to produce new bottles, you need a huge amount of resources. Now there is no need to buy new glass bottles in the Latvian market, because they come back and can be reused.
The return rate of PET is also increasing, it is really impressive. In less than two years, Latvia will have already reached the return indicators of a normal, highly functioning deposit system.
I’ll have a beer received the highest Diamond category rating in the Sustainability Index. What does it mean, what has the company done?
It was very important for us to receive such an assessment. We have devoted 15 years to this. If a company works and takes care of business as a standard, then sustainability is the thing that is very important so that companies can develop in the future as well.
Our identified priority areas are caring for employees, the environment, customers and society as a whole. A lot of attention is paid to environmental issues, how we take care of it. One is that we return our packaging through the deposit system, the other is how we use energy resources. We study the life cycle of our products, at which stage resources are consumed the most, how to reduce their consumption. We invest at least two million in development every year, and part of the investment is dedicated to various energy efficiency projects.
We also aim to reduce water and electricity consumption per liter of beverage produced. After the huge energy prices we experienced recently, we implemented heat recovery from cold compressors and waste water, thus achieving significant savings in heat energy.
We are the only food manufacturer that has received such recognition. And we like such a serious approach in all matters. I feel in job interviews that it is important for the potential employees of the new generation that the company cares about something more than just profit; other values are also important to them And we as a team are aiming high to be such a company.
There are studies that show that businesses run by women are up to 25% more profitable than those run by men. Judging by your experience, you might agree?
The European Union is very concerned about eliminating gender discrimination, so that there are more and more women on boards and councils. Scandinavia already has a minimum number of women on the board or council.
But if we talk about management, it is very difficult for me to compare. I have thought about this question. I trust my intuition, at the same time I thoroughly delve into the processes, I gladly delegate a lot of work and responsibility. Maybe it is precisely because of this desire for power that a woman has less, maybe it helps other people to work on their own.
I do not need the centralization of power in my hands. I can’t tell if it’s a gender difference or a specific management style. For men, the position of power and the implementation of their decisions are more important. I too have decisions that I want to implement exactly as I want.
Would you support a law that would determine the ratio of women to men in companies, boards, councils?
I will certainly not be the one to promote such a law, because nothing like that can be introduced by force. Then the question will arise whether women will have the motivation to get an education, because the position will be guaranteed anyway. It should be avoided.
My management team is 50% female, this naturally happens when a woman is in management. A woman will hire more women.
What I have experienced myself is that it is inherently more difficult for a woman to move up in Latvia than for a man. It’s true.
2023-08-22 14:03:39
#Eva #Sietinsone #Striving #excellence
