The EBRD’s Local Enterprise Facility helps small businesses grow by providing long-term financing.
Vitalia is a leading producer of health food products in FYR Macedonia. Nikola Vetadzokoski and his family established the company in Skopje in 1993 as a small shop importing and selling health food products mainly for diabetic people. Today it is a successful company with a well-known brand in FYR Macedonia and neighbouring countries, providing employment to some 100 people.
The company’s mission is to produce natural, tasty, nutritional products of superior quality at a reasonable price. It has been rapidly growing year by year and has established itself as a leading brand.
A new development phase
In 2007 Vitalia was ready to start a new development phase with the objective of strengthening its leading market position, including increasing exports on the regional markets. To support the company’s further growth the EBRD signed a €1 million equity investment through a capital increase in Vitalia under its Local Enterprise Facility (LEF), an investment instrument established by the Bank with financial contributions and support from Italy.
The financing was used for completion of a production line for crunchy muesli and procurement of a new packaging machine to increase production capacity and the design of the existing product lines. EBRD financing was also dedicated to the construction of a new warehouse and to partially cover the costs of an additional need for working capital and marketing related to the penetration into new markets.
Improved and expanded production
Thanks to the new investments the company improved its productivity and broadened its product line which is now able to fulfil the robustly increasing demand in Vitalia’s products in FYR Macedonia and neighbouring countries.
In 2011 the company successfully introduced several new products including muesli bars. The exports now represent 45 per cent of the total sales, which increased by 13 per cent in 2011. Vitalia also expects double-digit growth for 2012.
