Burned to the ground in March, the largest domestic chestnut processor is now producing again

Sweet chestnuts ripen in October, and the company had only six months to rebuild its infrastructure, which was unique in many respects. The project was a success, and the factory even increased its capacity and strengthened its presence in foreign markets.

The company announced in a press release: „If we hadn't been ready by October, it's not certain that we would ever have been able to restart production, because despite their loyalty, neither our employees nor our suppliers could have waited a year for us to continue,” said Károly Egyed, founder and CEO of Sarkpont Zrt., looking back on the recent past.

They also helped with the reconstruction through community work and donations.

The employees did not have to be laid off, and many of them helped with the reconstruction for months through community service. After the old building was demolished, the entire technology had to be rebuilt. Trial operations were completed in October, and the plant is now ready for the arrival of lorries. The manager pointed out that the plant was reborn thanks to exemplary cooperation. The founder emphasised: „Not only did the employees remain loyal to the company – Sarkpont is one of the largest employers in the area – but several private individuals also supported the restart with significant donations. Both the technology suppliers and the construction company treated our requests as a high priority and placed their trust in us. Representatives of our chestnut-producing partners from Italy, Portugal and various parts of the Balkans visited us in person to assure us of their support for the plant under construction, and our partners and customers in the retail and HORECA sectors also remained loyal and „waited” for us. Without this, we would almost certainly not have been able to get back on our feet and overcome the difficulties.”

A difficult path led to the success of the project

There were plenty of difficulties. Immediately after the fire, the company's former bank withdrew its support, and the new machine line, which had been financed by the grant but destroyed before delivery, had to be rebuilt – now without financing. The weather did not help either. Due to the warm weather, the chestnuts ripened earlier than expected, and the first shipment arrived on 8 October, about two weeks earlier than expected, so everything had to be ready by then.

New products welcome the reconstruction

Despite all this, the Somogy County plant will process more chestnuts this year than at any time since its founding in 1993. Their wide range of products is available and popular in Croatia, and they have opened a successful brand store in Portugal. They even had enough energy left to launch four new products on the market. „We tried to maintain our characteristic, almost continuous product development even during the reconstruction period, so we can celebrate our rebirth in style with five new frozen products: two cakes, a pie and two chestnut rolls, signalling to the world that we are alive, working and that we have succeeded,” concluded Károly Egyed.