Investments of 2 million euros in a new 100% Romanian ice cream brand | Progresiv
Cream Land producer from Nanov commune, Teleorman county, has invested over 2 million euros in the construction of an ice cream factory and the launch of the Cremola brand in the category. The distribution of the new products in retail started earlier this summer. 
Promoted as "the first fresh milk dessert without any additives, made in Romania", Cremola ice cream is currently available in two variants: vanilla and chocolate, in packages of 500 ml and 1 liter.
“We started with two large objectives: to produce the first industrial desert made in Romania without food additives and to coagulate all the characteristics of the product around the idea of efficiency. Thus, we entered the market with an ice cream whose composition contains over 50% fresh milk, and to streamline operations we initially launched the two best-selling assortments in the category - vanilla and chocolate - in packagings that are top sellers on the market ”, said Cream Land Administrator, Irina Filip, for Progresiv.
The ice cream without E-s is prepared from fresh milk, milk whipped cream, extra-grade powdered milk, egg yolk and natural flavors. The price at the hypermarket shelf is around 30 lei for the 1,000 ml casserole for home consumption. In fact, the smaller casserole, 500 ml, is for in-house consumption.
The Cream Land plant in Nanov has a production capacity of 1,500 kg per hour, and most of the investments made here have been covered by resources drawn from banks. In terms of distribution, the company has so far focused only on the large retail chains, Cremola products being currently listed in about 35 hypermarkets in the Carrefour, Auchan and Kaufland chains. “Now I strive to convince more large chains of stores to list at national level this brand with 100% natural products, which already has a lot of appreciation in Social Media. For reasons unknown to us, it is very difficult for us to activate our products at national level in the big retail chains”, said Irina Filip.
The entrepreneur wants to sell Cremola ice cream also in HoReCa, as well as in local store chains. “For this we should turn to distribution companies. Unfortunately, during the last 7-8 years, during which I completed the ice cream factory project, the number of distributors in the traditional trade has decreased very much, and those who did not go out of business either gave up frozen products or now depend only on 2-3 large companies in the FMCG industry and cannot serve other producers”, comments the administrator of Cream Land.
The ice cream factory in Nanov became operational in the fall of 2018 and was largely erected with the help of resources drawn from banks. Irina Filip owns it together with her brother, Petre Filip, and the dairy producer Comalat SRL in Nanov, an active company on the market for about 18 years and which distributes its products under the Comalat brand, mainly in the traditional trade, having its own fleet of commercial vehicles. Comalat SRL's business reached 14.6 million lei in 2018 - according to the data submitted to the Ministry of Finance.
