6 Oct 2022 09:58

Former Valio subsidiary in Russia changes name to Viola

MOSCOW. Oct 6 (Interfax) - The former Russian subsidiary of Finnish dairy product manufacturer Valio, Valio LLC, which was acquired by Russia's Velkom Group in late April, has changed its name to Viola LLC.

The name change will not affect production processes, supplies or relations with counterparties and employees, the company said in a statement.

The company began updating the flagship brand of its line of dairy products earlier. Milk, cream, yogurt, cottage cheese and other products are already shipped to Russian stores under the new Viola logo.

It was reported earlier that meat producer Velkom Group's acquisition of Valio's Russian business included the company's processed and semi-hard cheese plant in Yershovo, Moscow Region, and the rights to the Viola processed cheese brand. The Viola brand will remain on Russian store shelves until packaging is used up and products expire. The line of cheeses that Russian consumers have known as Oltermanni for the past 25 years will now be produced under the Laplandia brand.

Viola LLC has now managed to make up for the end of supplies of imported products, including packaging materials, the company said. It is actively developing the assortment of products popular with consumers and the plant in Moscow Region is operating smoothly, Viola said.

"The company is actively developing, we're expanding distribution, increasing our presence in the regions, and we have big plans to ramp up exports and sales in the HoReCa channel," Viola CEO Yelena Kipenenva was quoted as saying in the press release.