Somapak Expands Capacity with EU Funding

The packaging technology machinery firm Somapak Csomagolástechnikai Gépgyártó Kft., based in Pécs, S Hungary, has built a production hall, acquired equipment and implemented IT developments with an investment of nearly HUF quarter of a billion.

The Hungarian-owned company, which has been operating for more than 30 years and currently employs 54 people, manufactures and exports packaging machinery for the food and tobacco industries, and has won HUF 171.8 million in funding from the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Program (Ginop), which enabled it to carry out HUF 245.4 million worth of development work.

At its Pécs site, the company acquired a CNC machining center and a five-ton crawler track, built a plant and warehouse and implemented IT improvements to increase its competitiveness, capacity and market position.

With the complex investment, Somapak Ltd. has taken another step towards not only performing well within its established operations, but also continuing its innovation-driven growth, one of the keys to which is the availability of state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure, the company said in a statement.

The company, founded as an Italian-Hungarian joint venture, became a fully Hungarian family-owned company in 1995. Somapak's profile has been expanding year by year: since 2002, its activities have been extended to include CNC parts production and sheet metal technology.

Managing director Balázs Bognár told MTI that the company, which also produces for the Romanian, Croatian and Slovak markets, achieved a net turnover of HUF 1.425 billion in 2022, with exports of HUF 110 million and a profit of HUF 350 million. This year, the company aims to maintain the results and headcount achieved last year.