Savimex has been thriving on disruptions; those that came its way and those that it is boldly innovating. The cracker and pretzel producer has made a name for itself in Europe and beyond, with its own brands including Savi, and private-label offerings.
In his travels, Danko Savov is an avid seeker of new and different snacks: the second-generation owner of Savimex looks for unusual and exciting finds at snack aisles in supermarkets around the world. Each destination means one additional suitcase full of local product samples for the return trip. Bread sommelier training builds expertise for master bakers in Germany; in a similar way, he has been researching and tasting snacks. From the samples he collects, the owner of Savimex selects, step by step, features he believes are best and have the best potential to develop new products that will enjoy market success.
Savov’s curiosity for new experiences in tastes, flavors and textures and his instinct for consumer response to new offerings have led Savimex to successfully introduce snacks previously unknown in Europe. Broken pretzels are among them, a well-known snack to American consumers, but virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Savimex now successfully exports this premium product, which is particularly enjoyed in Germany and the UK.
With headquarters and production facilities in Dobrich and seven warehouses throughout Bulgaria, Savimex exports its crackers, pretzels, sticks, burger buns and pasta to over 30 countries, including major supermarket chains in Italy, Denmark, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, China, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. The company also provides airlines with snacks. In this process, it passes rigorous quality checks and unannounced inspections with flying colors – one of them, on the day of our visit. An international ‘library’ with Savimex-made product ranges is set up in a meeting office. It holds hundreds of packs on display, with packaging in various languages, from Bulgarian to Korean. An acknowledgment of its organic sticks from Sial China completes the collection, along with quality certifications. In its home market, Savimex sells salty sticks, pasta and bread.
“At first, we developed our own machine to break pretzels, while we were also working on perfecting the recipe and the process.”
Danko Savov, owner, Savimex
The company is getting ready to celebrate 33 years in business on February 6, 2024 – and it does so at full operating capacity. There are plans for several new investments that will see new lines installed in almost each production hall, including a new snack line and a soft bun line. Even the warehouse, which was only two months old in January, is in the works to become a manufacturing space. Then, a new storage facility will be built. At the beginning of 2024, around 270 people were working here, 200 of them in production. And 50-60 new teammates will join in the following months, to support the expansion. To work around labor shortages, people from outside of Bulgaria are welcome. “It takes up to five months to hire new people from other countries such as Uzbekistan, via an agency. They receive training, accommodation and transport to and from work,” Savov explains.
The company’s main steps forward since 1991 have not been small. Out of its portfolio of hundreds of unique products, the main segments at Savimex today are crackers and pretzels. It was a completely different picture two years ago, when the main part of the business consisted of the production of fresh bread, with large volumes of bread sold every day. That was indeed one of the recent disruptions that saw Savimex turn the tide and focus on the promising segment of snacks. “Market price caps wouldn’t allow a price increase to reflect the inflation we experienced. We had old equipment for bread production, that would have required massive investments for a product with low profit and complicated logistics. We needed to have bread trucks at the door of the supermarkets throughout the whole country, before opening time. This also limited the extent to which we could grow,” Savov explained the radical change of direction. His instinct was right: Savimex achieved the same turnover in 2023 without making bread as it had before, but with a higher profit.
Broken pretzels: making of a successful snack
Broken pretzels, thin pretzels and twisted sticks (pastry) are some of the ideas-turned-successful-line-products at Savimex so far. First came the broken pretzels: “The US is the best source for snacks, followed by Asian markets,” Savov recalls. In 2013, he tried broken pretzels during a trip and tried to reach a distribution agreement. The prices were too high, though. Days later, the team was carrying out tests on how to break sticks and what recipes would work best for seasonings. They developed their own machine to break them while perfecting the recipe and the process. For high-volume production, Savimex quickly found the only solution available for their needs was a pretzel system from Reading Bakery Systems (RBS), for this product and more. “It was simply the only technology available on the market, which was suitable for more interesting products and, importantly, came with a dryer and a soda bath, in addition to the oven. Placing an order from the US was a first for us,” Savov detailed, as the company considered new variables such as transport costs, spare parts and service. Savimex took this step, and the low-pressure extrusion line for pretzels has been working in the facility in Dobrich since 2018. There are now plans for a second RBS system to expand production by the end of 2024. “Savimex stands out because of the new and unique mentality regarding high-end products,” highlights Joe Pocevicius, EMEA Regional Director, RBS.
Mixers of up to 900 kg capacity/batch are used to prepare the dough for snacks. The line now produces flat pretzels and the broken variety. Pretzels require no proofing, so the dough can be moved directly to the RBS line for production, which carries out baking, drying, seasoning, and cooling automatically, followed by packaging. The final moisture content of pretzels should be around 4%, which is one of the parameters consistently recorded in the control room, where samples are also kept. Two people are required at the start of the line, to run and supervise operations. To ensure product safety, products with cheese are conveyed on a dedicated conveyor. An advantage of using the line is that no scrap dough is generated. Floor space savings were also important, along with consistent product quality.
Dough for crackers, by comparison, will require proofing. Crackers are made on an adjacent line, running in parallel. Roller dies are used to produce crackers of different shapes, meaning that scrap dough will result in the process. Profit margins are somewhat lower for this segment, compared with pretzels, so Savimex is looking for products that stand out. A third line, a new RBS system, is expected to join the two in this production hall, which will bring new product ranges, along with a capacity increase.
“This is why, in the near future, we want to start looking into new products , sweet and salty, with different shapes, seasonings and unique shapes,” Savov anticipates. One of the upcoming big plans at Savimex is to increase its efforts in developing its own brands. New, interesting snacks should be available as soon as 2025, including filled and twisted products and sweet snacks.
