Viola increases revenue 14% in 2023 to over 9 bln rubles

MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - The Viola company (formerly Valio), a former subsidiary of Finnish Valio, which left Russia, increased revenue in 2023 to over 9 billion rubles, a 14% increase versus the 2022 result of 7.9 billion rubles, a company press release said.

Net profit also increased 14% to 295 million rubles.

The company says cheeses and yoghurts are its growth drivers. For many years, the leader in the company's sales mix was processed cheeses, which Viola produces at its own plant in the village of Yershovo in Moscow Region. "The company continued actively developing this site in 2023. As a result of what was the largest investment project in the past 10 years, the plant's maximum production capacity increased 50% to 23,000 tonnes per year," the press release says. The plant also cuts and packages yellow cheeses.

Viola also produces products at partner sites. The company acquired a plant in the Belgorod region in February of this year from EFKO, which will specialize in the production of dairy products.

As reported, Finnish dairy concern Valio sold its business in Russia to meat products manufacturer Velkom Group in 2022. The deal included a plant for the production of processed and semi-hard cheeses in Moscow Region and the rights to the Viola processed cheese brand. The company changed its name from Valio LLC to Viola LLC in October 2022. The company also conducted a rebranding and Valio and Oltermanni brand cheeses were replaced by Viola and Laplandia brands. The company's product range consists of more than 150 items.

The owner of Viola LLC as of December 2022 is Denir LLC, which belongs to beneficiary of the Velkom Group of Companies, Raisa Demina.