Posted: 17.08.2022 16:18:00

Tourism: tasty and informative

Enterprises of Belgospischeprom resume work on the organisation of industrial tourism

After the removal of COVID restrictions, the Belgospischeprom enterprises reopen the doors for industrial tourism. It has become possible again to plunge into the sweet life during a tourist excursion for a few hours. For example, at the Kommunarka enterprise. Here you can get acquainted with the peculiarities of the production of confectionery products, visit modern workshops with a high degree of autonomy and taste sweets and chocolate. As before, such excursions are popular not only among schoolchildren and adults, but also among company owners looking for opportunities for cooperation. However, a new wave of coronavirus should not be discounted. Here is the MT piece about such issues as how to combine precautionary measures with the reception of guests at the factory, how the factory works under conditions of external pressure.

Photo by Aleksey Stolyarov

Walk the path of cocoa beans

The Kommunarka factory was one of the first to engage into the organisation of industrial tourism in 2015. Since that time, about 9-10 thousand people have visited the enterprise annually. However, the coronavirus has made its own adjustments to the usual state of affairs. And since March 2020, excursions have been temporarily suspended here.
“Only in June this year, after a long break, the company reopened its doors to tourists,” says Svetlana Gontareva, Deputy General Director for Commercial Affairs. “Today, one of the flagships of the country’s confectionery industry introduces guests to the history of Belarusian sweets, unique chocolate paintings and, of course, the production process of famous sweets and chocolate.”
Photo by Vladimir Shlapak

At the same time, excursions are designed not only for children, but also for tourist and professional groups. And there is a lot to see here today. This is a modern enterprise that produces more than 300 types of products. They include chocolate, sweets, cocoa powder, waffles.
“We demonstrate the manufacture of products on innovative equipment of the highest standard. Most of the production steps are automated. Our enterprise invites visitors to follow the path of cocoa beans from the cocoa tree to the store shelf and learn how the confectionery industry was born in Belarus. Here you can not only listen to the story, but also see how the chocolate mass is kneaded, poured into moulds, cooled and packaged. It is possible to see this during a visit to our chocolate, candy-chocolate and candy shops.”
As Svetlana Gontareva noted, the main marketing tasks for the implementation of projects for the organisation of industrial excursions are connected, firstly, with maintaining the image and brand of the company, and secondly, with the formation of public opinion about the goods produced, “Industrial tourism increases the competitiveness of the enterprise, and also forms consumer loyalty. The cost is covered by the cost of the tickets.”
Photo by BELTA


However, at the moment, a new wave of coronavirus infection is expected in the country, which may again limit the ability to visit places such as a confectionery factory. At the same time, a lot has already been done at Kommunarka to maintain control over the epidemiological situation, “We have done everything possible to strengthen anti-epidemiological measures. There are automated sanitizers at the entrances to the workshops. Employees wear gowns, masks, gloves. Similar requirements apply to our visitors, including the mandatory wearing of shoe covers. If we talk about the prospect of a new wave of coronavirus, the company will adapt to the situation, strengthen precautionary and security measures, or temporarily suspend tours until the epidemiological situation stabilises.”

Promptly changed suppliers

Speaking about how the company has worked since the beginning of the year, Svetlana Gontareva noted that Kommunarka delivers to such countries as Russia, China, the USA, Israel, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, “Export deliveries have a positive trend. Their growth rate for the first half of this year compared to the same period last year amounted to 105 percent in value terms. The growth rate of shipments to the domestic market was at the level of 125 percent in value terms. Every year the factory produces about 20 new products. Since the beginning of 2022, the factory has produced about ten additional items. Interestingly, approximately every third chocolate bar sold in the country is produced at the Kommunarka factory.”

Photo by Daria Titova

In addition, according to Svetlana Gontareva, since the beginning of the year, the company has changed suppliers due to difficulties in logistics and supplies, “Despite the global difficulties, Kommunarka JV JSC operates continuously, promptly responding to all changes. The current situation has also given impetus to the diversification of export supplies. So, for example, at the moment the factory is focused on establishing cooperation with residents of the Persian Gulf countries, as well as increasing sales in the Southeast Asian market.”

What about others?

As noted in the press service of the Belgospischeprom concern, Krasny Pischevik OJSC opened the opportunity to look behind the scenes of the production process of popular marshmallow and marmalade products. They wanted to open a factory for visiting here for a long time, but previously the presence of open production processes did not allow this. Not so long ago, the company managed to develop a special route to minimise the contact of guests with the products during the tour, but at the same time, to show the entire process of creating marshmallows, marmalade and other products as closely as possible.

PHOTO BY ALEKSEY STOLYAROV

The Spartak confectionery now also conducts tours for children and adults. Guests over 10 years old are welcome here and they are offered to see how sweets are made. About 500 people visit Spartak every month: both schoolchildren and residents of Gomel, as well as guests from other cities and even countries. Since April 2022, Slodych Confectionery Factory OJSC has resumed excursion activities. There are two tours a day three times a week. The main visitors are children aged 9 years and older, according to the marketing department. The guides demonstrate to the guests all the stages of biscuit production from rolling out the dough to cutting the moulds and loading into the oven, tell about the history of the factory, production technology, introduce to the range of existing products and the new ones.

By Ilya Kryzhevich