Interviews
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Co-operation in confectionery: the key to success
20 August 20201-2-1: Lekos Exclusive For over 20 years, Lekos has become an important and stable partner for confectionery producers in the European market – Editor, Zoe Deighton-Smythe, spoke with the Head of Sales, Martin Ledl, to find out more. Designing and manufacturing specialised machines and appliances for confectionery and pastry, the family business, Lekos, has been continuously developing since its foundation in 1994. Martin Ledl, Head of Sales, spoke with the Kennedy’s team about the company’s origins, successes, challenges and hopes for the future as the world slowly comes out of lockdown. Zoe Deighton-Smythe: Thank you for speaking with me today, Martin. Could you start by explaining what initially drew Lekos to the confectionery sector as a family business? Martin Ledl: Of course. So, technically Lekos is owned by two families which lead the company together, but we never distinguish the two – we all have a common vision and stick together as one big family. Both co-owners of Lekos, Mr.František Ledl and Mr.Martin Puci had originally been working in Food Combinate, consisting of four plants (sugar, milk, confectionery and yeast) in our native town Trebišov during socialism. My father Mr. František Ledl studied Electrical Engineering and once his degree was completed, he started to work at a confectionery plant called Deva Trebišov as a Technical Chef and later became the Commercial Director of Food Combinate Trebišov. Mr.Martin Puci, on the other hand, studied Food Technology and worked as a Production Manager for chocolate masses at confectionery plant Deva Trebišov. At the end of socialism, the start of the 1990’s, many people tried to start their own business in the industry they had started in and this is where the Lekos story begins. František Ledl founded Lekos in 1994. He was initially designing the machines for confectionery and he was ordering the physical execution of machines at local sub-suppliers. At the time, a lot of confectionery and bakery companies were trying to grow and develop in Slovakia and in Czech Republic and that ultimately provided a lot of work for Lekos. Step by step, Lekos were a part of various new projects, such as; machines for the production of chocolate pralines with black-cherries, chocolate tempering machines, chocolate enrobing line and bar line as well as machines for the production of muesli bars. Ever since then, Lekos has been growing, extending the staff and the competence in tooling, welding, assembling, electrification and programming. ZDS: That is a very resilient back story for a family business! What do you think makes the company unique to the confectionery industry today? ML: I believe that when customers buy machinery from us, they do so based on previous investigations and tendering processes. They analyse a lot of factors which is important for a successful investment and they hand-over a great amount of trust to us by signing the purchase agreement. We, as a business, behave with liability already against the inquiry, which is soon before the purchasing and I think that is what sets us apart from the rest. Lekos provides plenty of solutions for chocolate moulding, chocolate enrobing and bars manufacturing. From all inquiries, we sort out those which seem to be somehow standard for us and those which are challenging but we believe will be able to manage them thanks to our in-depth experience, trials and our brilliant R&D Centre. We also never make an offer for inquiry which seems too unrealistic and could potentially cause issues to ourselves and the client – we carefully consider every promise and on top of that, we focus on the project more than contracted. I think because of this approach, Lekos has been continuously growing without any promotions on international shows and without any advertising until approximately 2011 – we are a success based on our executed projects. We know that good references spread among the confectionery business fast but bad references spread even faster. I think the fact that a one-person company has developed to the current 115 employees plus additional 35 people in our R&D centre, really says all about us! However, this does not mean that we have never made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes - but it is important that you face each situation head-on and know how to quickly and effectively solve a problem and we sincerely try to manage our everyday responsibilities to have a satisfied customer at the end. ZDS: That’s an excellent ethos to have as a company. Could you tell our readers more about the Lekos R&D Centre as well as the trials and developments on your industrial bar and enrobing lines? ML: Certainly. During the last decade, we recognised impressive growth in bar production. People like snacking and eating on-the-go and many producers, either existing, well-established names in the confectionery market, or newcomers with fresh ideas, have all been investing in the production technology for bar manufacturing. Wh ...
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Schubert
01 February 2016Schubert are predicting a totally new generation of machines that will be on the market by 2016 which will be markedly different from what we think is modern today. We believe they are one of the main drivers of innovation in the market place. Angus Kennedy, Editor, talks to Gerald Schubert to tune into the future of confectionery packaging equipment and the ‘bear packaging necessities of life!’
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Theegarten
01 February 2016Theegarten-Pactec continues to make huge progress with their new factory, as they surge ahead constructing a new and larger state of the art facility and offices in Dresden. Angus Kennedy, Editor, finds out direct from Markus Rustler, CEO on the new benefits the site will offer and a look into the new company of the future.
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Haas
01 October 2015Why it’s essential to be emotional about producing first class machines Angus Kennedy meets with Johannes Haas, member of the board of directors at Haas Food Equipment, for their first ever One-to-One interview with Kennedy's Confection I have always imagined what it would be like to meet at least one of the Haas family and tune into the energy that is driving this magnificent company forever forward. I have written about the Haas Group many times over many years, and always held a space for the Haas family in the back of my mind. And when the opportunity finally came for an exclusive interview with Johannes Haas, well, I wasn’t going to let it go! For good reason too, I found myself in front of the perfect gentleman and brilliant host, armed with a faultless industry knowledge to match; a man entirely fit for the job. Meet Johannes Haas, Member of the Board of Directors of Haas Food Equipment GmbH.
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Barry Callebaut
01 March 2015Has the time has come when chocolate really can be an art? Barry Callebaut have introduced their brand new FullFill Factory concept. Angus Kennedy, Editor, sits down with Sofie De Lathouwer, Marketing Director, FM Western Europe who reveals perhaps, for the first time, the true colours of Barry Callebaut.
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Cemoi
01 March 2015Cémoi has continuously upheld a standard of quality chocolate and cocoa production as well as transparency through its Cocoa Centres in South America and Africa. Today they have groundbreaking news, including a brand new factory in Africa – a new trend perhaps? Angus Kennedy, Editor, spoke to Mr. Patrick Poirrier, CEO to find out about the market and their announcement in “Transparency”.
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LoeschPack
01 March 2015LoeschPack are making impressive steps forward, developing rapidly into new markets. Kennedy’s went to see them at ProSweets 2015 to find out more on the release of their first Flow Wrapping System Solution for chocolate tablets. Angus Kennedy, Editor, caught up with Andreas Graf, Managing Director, to talk exclusively about how this company has grown and the unique ideas he is bringing to the table.
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Walker's Nonsuch
01 March 2015Walkers Nonsuch is a one of the few traditional family toffee business left in the whole of Europe. There are reasons why. A company too, that has been attending iSM for 43 years. Daisy Phillipson, Deputy Editor, spoke with Ian Walker, Managing Director of this wonderful family business to talk exclusively about how they just keep going and producing consistently good and ‘theatrical’ quality products year on year!
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