GOMEL, 16 January (BelTA) – The Belarusian confectionery producer Spartak now offers a new route as part of the industrial tourism program, BelTA learned from Spartak Director General Oleg Zhidkov.
Spartak started developing industrial tourism in August 2018. Spartak specialists came up with an itinerary, which introduces guests to the manufacturing process and the history of the company. The guides are some of the company's most experienced specialists, who know details of how the company came to be, how it evolved and grew larger. They are people, who know the modern state of the company, its industrial potential, process flows, consumer qualities of Spartak sweets, and so on.
Oleg Zhidkov said: “In little more than four months we offered some 80 guided tours to groups consisting of 30-60 people, including adults and children. Not only residents of Gomel and the oblast visited the company but also guests from other parts of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.”
Taking into account the accumulated experience, the company decided to offer a new route in 2019. The guided tour will take visitors to see virtually all the manufacturing lines, which have been commissioned since 2013. In particular, visitors will be able to see how Spartak makes muesli bars, waffles, sweets, and chocolate. They will be able to sample Spartak products, learn more about the company and the industry. “We will focus on giving visitors a chance to see and understand that the company makes quality products based on organic raw materials, which are good for people's health,” explained the Spartak director general.
The idea to explore industrial tourism opportunities was born when Oleg Zhidkov visited a parmesan enterprise in Parma, Italy as part of an official delegation led by Gomel Mayor Piotr Kirichenko.
Students from Gomel's school No.49 as well as teachers and students from the school in Korma, Dobrush District are among the people, who have been able to get intimately familiar with Spartak.
Nearly 30 kids from Gomel started the guided tour of the Spartak premises with a sampling of the company products. Meanwhile, Galina Soroka, a process engineer at Spartak, told them about the history of the factory, its previous names and the places it was located in the past, about how much the enterprise made initially. The school students saw the raw material chocolate is made of – cocoa beans – as well as the main steps involved in processing the beans.
The guided tour went to other manufacturing shops. Kids and adults watched the process with genuine interest. “It is a very tasty tour. Virtually every room has its own aroma and unusual machines. It was fascinating to watch how ingredients are mixed to make a bar or a sweet,” the young Gomel resident Yana Maiseikova shared her impressions. All participants of the guided tour will take away souvenirs as the final part of the event.
The confectionary factory Spartak was established in 1924. It became a public joint-stock company (OAO) in 1998. It is one of Belarus' largest producers of confectionery and intermediate products. It offers about 350 titles of confectionery products, including those with preventive and medicinal qualities.
