IRLMD FS becomes the majority shareholder of ALOJA STARKELSEN

Press release

July, 2021

Latvian based company IRLMD Food Solutions Ltd (IRLMD FS) has acquired a majority stake in ALOJA STARKELSEN Ltd, one of the largest producers of organic potato starch globally. The financial details of the transaction are confidential.

“We have decided to invest in Latvia where the agricultural products of our interest are grown in a sustainable and competitive way, and where there are already interesting production centres” says founder Maurizio Decio and he adds “IRLMD FS will transfer to Latvia scientific, technical and commercial know-how and aims to develop Aloja S.  into a global plant-based food ingredients and food solutions producers. Latvia is the ideal place to develop a successful food ingredients business, with its competitive and sustainable agriculture infrastructure, strong food industry and reputable Universities.”

“We are happy to welcome the new owners as it will leverage our strong supply chain platform and innovative capabilities to supply our Worldwide partners with solutions for their application challenges.” Says managing director Janis Garancs.

Swedish farming cooperative SSF has sold its 90% ALOJA STARKELSEN share ownership in order to concentrate on potatoes and potatoes derived products.

About ALOJA STARKELSEN

ALOJA STARKELSEN was established in 1991 as joint venture between the employee cooperative “ALOJA” and the Swedish farming cooperative SSF and became the first joint venture in Latvia food industry. Over the years, ALOJA STARKELSEN has become the largest producer of potato starch in the Baltic states, as well as one of the largest producers of organic potato starch globally. ALOJA STARKELSEN through the years has developed into a value-based enterprise, vertically integrated from farm to fork leveraging excellent relations with his partners in agriculture, food processing and retail chains. ALOJA STARKELSEN has also started processing organic brown peas and fava beans, thus expanding its range of gluten free, vegan and organic food raw materials. Approximately 80% of the output is exported to countries of the European Union, Asia, and the USA.

About IRLMD Food Solutions

IRLMD FS is a Latvian company founded by a group of investors of many nationalities (Latvians, Italians, Americans, Spanish, Dutch, British etc.) who collectively have more than three hundred years of experience at senior management level in the global food ingredients industry.

There are two Latvian investors participating in IRLMD FS – VAKS, the Agri cooperative which has a strong position in the northwest of Latvia (VAKS being represented by the CEO Indulis Jansons) and Edgars Ruza, CEO of Latraps, participating as a private investor. These investors  will help the company to have the necessary links with the farmers to guarantee the sustainability of the agricultural practices, which ultimately will contribute to build a “Latvian sustainability certification”.

IRLMD FS focuses on building food solutions using ingredients that are obtained from sustainably grown agricultural commodities, which are then mildly processed. Ingredients derived from potatoes, peas and other sustainably grown agricultural commodities are great building blocks to create food solutions for innovative manufacturers.