Here in the parish of Salas there is a production facility “Pērnes L”, which has managed to go far in the world. The Hollywood star’s passion for chips was a pleasant surprise, like a cherry on top of a cake after a long and hard work. Parker had come across and tasted the long chips or “Long Chips” from Latvia before, found them to be very good, but could not find them again for a long time. Until two years ago, she came across them in New York, in a store in Manhattan, bought out all the shelves and even advertised them on Instagram.
Chip boxes for the actress shop
“It doesn’t happen often. It is similar to how hail fell in Dobele in August,” says Laimonis Radziņš, owner of the company, to “Kas Jauns Avīzei”. “We are still in touch with Parker, we sent her many boxes of crisps. We can’t get Jessica’s personal address, but she owns a shoe store in New York, we sent the chips there. The sellers, four girls, put them between the shoes on the shelves, filmed them and put them on Instagram. Jessica has over four million followers, the four girls have a million each.”
“Pērnes L” currently exports to 60 countries, the most distant buyers are Australia, Japan, South Korea, Africa. “Now there is an option for the product to sell itself. Someone goes to Cyprus, the Maldives or Greece, tastes our chips, comes home and writes: I’m interested, do you have a distributor in this country?”
“Zaporožecs will fulfill its function, of course, but we have a Bentley,” Laimonis Radzins, owner of “Pērnes L”, compares his company’s products with competitors. (Photo: Roy Maizitis)
Three years to the real taste
Testing takes place at world exhibitions, where “Pērnes L” takes all types with it. At the beginning of October, there was a big exhibition in Cologne, another in France, it is the most ambitious for chip manufacturers. “At the beginning of November, we will go to Dublin, the capital of Ireland, at the end – to Korea, where the Latvian Days will take place,” Radziņš outlines his immediate plans.
“In Asian and African countries, spicy flavors are at the top. We have about 18 types of chips with different spices, the most popular is cream with onion, it is No. 1. There are countries where you like it with vinegar, in Europe it is often associated with paprika. New are sharp chips, also with truffle, it will be much more expensive because the spice is expensive – it takes a long time to get the real taste. Kind of like perfume, until you get the right scent. Three years passed until we got the real one,” says Radziņš.
Our compatriots, who have worked in Great Britain or Ireland, where 80% of the market is, then look for chips with vinegar in Latvia – they want to have a good taste. “In earlier years, very weak flavors were required in Latvia and people even complimented that it was not so sharp. At the moment, it is the opposite – to be real and really sizzle. We even sometimes get complaints about the taste being weak or absent. It’s all a process – automation. Even though all kinds of sensors are assembled in the factory, the human factor cannot be done without,” says the businessman.
There are around 18 types of chips with different spices. (Photo: Roy Maizitis)
Willingness more than capacity
And you also have to refuse because you can’t produce that much. “We produce about 200,000 packets of chips per day. It is a lot for the scale of Latvia, but for the world it is nothing big, a trifle. We are small, we often have to refuse the big European trade networks, because then we only have to work for them. Therefore, we still need to build production facilities, because you know that you can sell three times more than what we are currently producing. Then it’s quite funny not to do it,” says the entrepreneur.
At the moment, all minds are being put together to decide where to build a new production plant, because the demand is huge and the consumption is only increasing. There is a plan to build a production plant far away from Latvia.
“For now, nothing specific is known, but one of the options is Cape Town in South Africa. This is not something dreamed up, but a completely real thing. We have a very wide market there, a strong distributor with a lot of experience in manufacturing. We used to send 20 containers a month to Cape Town,” Radziņš is proud.
“Pērnes L” exports to 60 countries, this shipment will travel to Brazil. (Photo: Roy Maizitis)
Why not in Africa?
Once, the cargo got stuck in European ports for two months, the logistics fell apart, until 28 containers with Pērnciems products entered Cape Town at once – this time too many. Then the people of Turien also expressed the idea that the production plant could be built in their country.
“If you invest there, the state subsidizes 70%, which is a very important factor. If I were only 24 years old now, I wouldn’t even think for a long time and the production plant would be built in Cape Town. There is a vast market, the whole of Africa beyond, at least ten million people with purchasing power. We don’t even dream of the high level of development in South Africa,” Radziņš does not live in stereotypes about African poverty.
We are also thinking about Brazil, also here in Europe – Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. “For example, all raw materials come from Belgium. Countries are fighting each other and want to get a factory that produces a product that has great export potential. For example, after an article about our problems, the US embassy responded in a flash, sending us lists of all states with relevant programs – choose which one you want, what they provide, who invests in a specific country.”
Bentley vs. Zaporizhia
“Pērnes L” long chips have been produced for 37 years, in the beginning they were ordinary plates, without a choice of many flavors. The Latvian company is not their inventor, but the best. Radziņš is not ashamed to say that they are the fashion trendsetters in the world in this respect.
“They are produced both in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The homeland is Belarus, but they still produce close to the level we were in 1986, and from the same raw materials. For comparison, there is a Zaporizhia, it will fulfill its function, of course, there is also a Mercedes, a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley. Then we have a Bentley, but in these countries – a Zaporizhia,” compares Radziņš.
In addition, in the case of Zaporozhets, chips are produced from low-quality raw materials, without observing proper technology. “The oil is fried until it becomes tar-like, and the chips start to smell after a few months.”
This is another way to bring the name of Latvia to the world. (Photo: Roy Maizitis)
Potato industry
When asked about raw materials, Radzins admits that nothing is from Latvia – neither potatoes nor everything else. And he says harshly: “There are no potatoes in Latvia, we need to throw this illusion out of our heads.” Here are potatoes for self-consumption, for our azaida table.”
The chips factory needs industrially grown potatoes, they are available in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. “These countries have the best growing opportunities for potatoes, there are large farmers’ cooperatives, large mega-fields, large institutes engaged in breeding, and huge processing plants. All this is located next to each other – on the edge of the potato field. The basic production of all these factories is french fries, because the consumption of this product is unimaginably high in the world,” explains the businessman.
“Pērnes L” buys potatoes from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. There are special varieties, intended for processing, with certain characteristics. “Factories process about 70 tons of potatoes per hour, and that’s not nearly the highest volume. In the big monsters – even around 200 tons per hour. Where will Latvia get such a quantity of potatoes?” asks Radzins.
Just like the victories of athletes, a good export product also carries the country’s name to the world. Back in the first half of the 90s, neither such long chips nor Latvia were known at international exhibitions.
“Where is such Latvia located in general, I thought that somewhere near Scandinavia, we show it on the map – eh, Raša? And do you grow potatoes there? There were even countries where our chips were placed not next to chips at exhibitions, but somewhere next to waffles,” recalls Radziņš. “Now it has changed drastically, the whole world knows what this product is.”
2023-10-23 02:33:00
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