The stores, nine Casa Brutarilor and 36 Belforno, are currently operated by Bake Expert and following the deal, three Belforno have been converted into Casa Brutarilor, as the company embarked on a project to turn the stores to the new brand at the beginning of the year.
“The store chain will be divided into 30 Casa Brutarilor and 15 Belforno by the end of next year. Casa Brutarilor concept has taken really well and we want to take on the premium areas of Bucharest,” said Dragos Serb, who has an over ten-year experience in the food industry.
“The Belforno stores will undergo a transformation so as to improve the image and we also want them to offer an improved shopping experience.”
The entrepreneur did not say how much he paid for the stores, only that he used his own money and bank loans.
The sale of the retail division is part of the sale of some local assets by Goodmills Romania. Goodmills, which is held by Austria’s financial group Raiffeisen, sold its bakery operations to Swedish cooperative Lantmannen Unibake and kept only the milling operations, its core business, ZF has found.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)