Kalev (company)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Note: For other uses, see Kalev.
AS Kalev is a minor confectionery company in Estonia. The company can trace its origins back two hundred years,it was founded in 1806, and it is now a publicly-quoted Group with various other interests. Since 2003 it has been based in Põrguvälja near Jüri, Rae Parish, Harju County.
Contents |
[edit] 19th century
The birth of the Estonian confectionery industry dates back to 1806 when a pastry cook, Lorenz Caviezel, opened a confectionery business in Tallinn at Pikk Street, where the Café Maiasmokk (Sweet Tooth) is now located.
In 1864, the business, which had changed hands many times, came into the possession of Georg Johann Stude. After ten years of operation, Stude decided to expand the business: he bought a neighbouring house and in place of these two houses constructed a new and more solid building, which is still there.
Out of Stude’s production, marzipan figures and hand-made chocolate candies were in especially high demand. Stude’s sweets were also known outside Estonia. Thus, for example, the court of the Russian tsar was a regular customer at the turn of the 20th century.
Recipes and working methods originating from Stude’s confectionery are still held in great esteem in today’s Kalev – to this day the marzipan figures and hand-made candies that were wel-known even in the 19th century are exclusively hand-made.
[edit] Beginning of the 20th century
At the beginning of the 20th century there were other pioneers of the confectionery industry in Tallinn that could be considered as the predecessors of Kalev. Perhaps one of the most renowned was Kawe confectionery, founded in 1921 by brothers Karl and Kolla Wellner at Müürivahe Street 62. Kawe's products, the greatest confectionery in Estonia, were well known in Estonia and abroad, and the company exported a significant share of its output to destinations such as the United States of America, England, Tunisia, Morocco, France, India and China.
Of other big sweet producers of the time, the factories of Ginovker, Brandmann and Klausson should also be mentioned. At the end of the 1930s, Kawe and these three confectioneries employed 75% of all Estonian confectionery workers. Competing with big factories were a number of smaller enterprises: Riola, Endla, Eelis, Efekt and others.
[edit] Soviet era
The change in policy in 1940 brought along big changes for the confectionery industry. This was the time of nationalisation and company mergers. In 1940, the Riola factory was joined with the Brandmann business and the enterprise was renamed the Karamell Sweet Factory. Later on, Karamell was joined by the marzipan and chocolate candy unit of Georg Stude’s business. Cakes and tarts continued to be made at the Pikk Street building, still known as the Café Maiasmokk.
Soon after that, Kawe merged with the sweet factories of Efekt, Eelis, Endla, Soliid and the Ermos syrup factory situated in Kloodi manor house near Rakvere. The merged enterprise continued to operate under the name Kawe until 1948. On 1 April 1948, the company was renamed Kalev Confectionery Factory. The name was changed for ideological reasons: someone had complained to a minister that the name “Kawe” had once been formed of the former owners’ initials. This, however, was perceived as inappropriate for a Soviet enterprise. Hence, a name competition was quickly held. There were two name propositions: “Punane Kompu” (Red Candy) and “Kalev”. A majority of only one vote determined that the new name would be “Kalev”.
In 1957, a new confectionery operation named Uus Kalev (New Kalev) was opened at Pärnu Road 139, which merged with Karamell a year later. In 1962, New Kalev and Kalev merged into what is now operating as the Kalev confectionery factory.
Throughout the Soviet period, Kalev produced sweets at full capacity for Estonia as well as almost the whole of the former Soviet Union, also supplying the “uncrowned rulers” of the Kremlin. Kalev’s sweets also found recognition outside the borders of the Soviet Union, bringing home prizes from several international fairs and exhibitions.
[edit] Post-Soviet period
In 1991, the state enterprise of Kalev was founded on the basis of the Kalev confectionery factory. In 1995, the privatisation of the state enterprise became possible and a public limited company was founded. Since 1996, the shares of the public limited company AS Kalev have been listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange.
The year 2003 was historically important to Kalev: the company moved from Tallinn to a new factory complex in Harjumaa, Rae rural municipality.
Today, AS Kalev is one of the few Estonian food industry enterprises based mainly on Estonian capital. As well as manufacturing confectionery, and retailing through cafés and candy shops, the group now also has interests in flour and bakery products, milk products and real estate development and management. The group earns stable profits and now employs about 800 people.
[edit] References
- Text based on Heino Gustavson’s manuscript “AS Kalev. Eelaeg, sünd ja elu” (AS Kalev. History, Foundation and Existence), Tallinn, 1999.
[edit] External links
- Official website (in English, Estonian and Russian)
