Atria pumps millions into Lagerbergs brand

Atria has confirmed it will invest €14m in order to make top-to-bottom changes to Lagerbergs – the Swedish poultry processor it acquired in an €18m takeover.

Investment will be carried out across every aspect of the vertically integrated company. Key areas that Atria said it would pay close attention to included livestock rearing, optimisation of industrial production machinery and overall reinforcement of Lagerbergs’ messaging and marketing.

Atria’s board of directors approved the €14m development investment on 27 June. Work will run from 2016 to 2018 and production capacity is expected to “increase significantly”​ at the abattoir and processing facility in Norjeby.

Existing facilities at the site will be modernised and rebuilt, while new production and processing machinery and equipment will be installed. Hatcheries and chicken rearing grounds will also be built near the plant to enhance the company’s vertical integration strategy.

In April, Atria won approval from the Swedish Competition Authority to complete the acquisition of what the company claims is Sweden’s third-largest poultry producer. The takeover is part of Atria’s plan to move into Sweden’s poultry market, where national chicken sales increased by 7% last year.

Lagerbergs owns a production plant and a chicken rearing site in Blekinge, south Sweden. The company employs 120 people and has a number of contracts in place with local farmers, who supply Lagerbergs with live chickens.

The company will still operate under its own name, but will be a subsidiary of Atria.