The Swedish medical mattress manufacturer “Care of Sweden” intends to begin production in a newly established factory in Liepāja by the end of this year. The planned investment in the factory is two million euros.
The company has already established a subsidiary in Latvia and has signed a lease agreement for 3,000 square metres of space in the Liepāja Old Port Business Park.
“The Baltic region has already provided a significant amount of the company’s raw materials. In Latvia, raw materials are supplied by companies from Jēkabpils, Ventspils and Jelgava, while a company from Lithuania will supply foam rubber. The decision to establish a factory in Latvia was made primarily to be closer to suppliers,” says the operational director of the new factory, Matīss Kaņeps.
The Old Port Business Park is located on the territory of Liepāja’s Special Economic Zone, close to the city centre, and already has more than 20 tenants working there – companies of Latvian and foreign investors.
“The decision of the Swedish company “Care of Sweden” to build a factory in Liepāja confirms that Latvia is attractive for investments. Manufacturing companies, as is customary, prefer to locate their operations outside of Riga. There is currently a trend among European companies to seek opportunities to organise the production and supply of raw materials closer to the end users of the goods. Many companies are leaving Asia and returning to Europe. This opens up opportunities for Latvia. The establishment of the factory of the company “Care of Sweden” in Liepāja also confirms the advantages of this city as a place rich in textile industry traditions,” says Kaspars Rožkalns, Director General of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA).
Currently, “Care of Sweden” is also negotiating with a Latvian company about the supply of electronically adjustable mattresses with electronic parts. So far, they have been delivered from China.
LIAA helped the company in finding premises, organising meetings, and providing the necessary information, which facilitated the decision-making process for the new factory at the start of the project.
Initially, ten people will be employed at the Liepāja factory to assemble mattresses from raw materials supplied, but the number of workers may increase over time.
“In today’s economy, we primarily focus on relatively small and efficient manufacturing companies. In Latvia, such companies see opportunities for growth. Latvia’s niche is knowledge- and technology-intensive companies that do not require thousands of employees,” said K. Rožkalns, emphasising that Latvia’s limited human resources dictate their own conditions.
The “Care of Sweden” company’s product line includes two types of mattresses: medical preventive mattresses and electronically controlled medical mattresses, which are planned to be manufactured in Latvia. “Care of Sweden” products are designed for bedridden patients to help treat and prevent bedsores.
In 2022, the company “Care of Sweden” had a turnover of 21 million euros and exported its products to approximately 35 countries worldwide. In Sweden, the company sells 55% of its production, while 45% is exported. The biggest export market is Australia.