Vilvi Group Opens a Cheese Factory in Latvia Worth Over €60 Million

The factory stands out not only for its scale but also for the speed of its construction: instead of the planned two years, it was built in a single year, on the premises of Baltic Dairy Board, a company owned by the group. The official opening took place in May, but commercial cheese production began back in January, and the first batch has already been shipped to clients in Italy.

At full capacity, the facility will produce 18,000 tons of cheese per year. Production is fully automated and equipped with robotics; the core equipment was supplied by Tetra Pak, Sealed Air, GEA, and other partners. A 1,000 kW solar power plant — one of the largest in the Bauska region — operates on the buildings' roofs.

Vilvi Group CEO Gintaras Bertašius emphasized that the Bauska factory integrates into the group's unified production system and makes it possible to use every drop of milk efficiently. The whey left over from cheese production is sent to the group's drying facility in Tauragė to make dry dairy products, while the fats are processed at the Marijampolės pieno konservai plant into butter. According to Bertašius, the project opens a new stage of international expansion for the group and cements its position in the Baltics.

The factory has also become a pillar of the regional economy: more than 100 new jobs have been created, mostly for residents of Bauska, and the plant has already entered the top ten largest taxpayers in the city. Construction was financed through Vilvi Group's own capital, a loan from Citadele Bank, and support from the Latvian government; partners SIA Mapri Būve, Altum, and Tetra Pak also took part in the project.

As part of its social responsibility efforts, the group forgoed traditional opening gifts in favor of donations to the local organization Cerību spārni (Wings of Hope), which supports people with mental health conditions and disabilities.

Vilvi Group comprises the companies Vilkyškių pieninė, Modest, Kelmės pieninė, Kelmės pienas, Pieno logistika, the Latvian enterprise Baltic Dairy Board, and the recently integrated Marijampolės pieno konservai. Each day, the group processes around 1,500 tons of milk and produces approximately 430 tons of dairy products, exported to more than 80 countries.