In summer the plant at Jagiellońska Street was still in the hands of Cypriot Yasmia Limited which in July sold its share in the company.

 

“The holder of the shares in the vodka plant is now Polmosy S.A., a wholly Polish company, with nearly twenty-year history in the alcoholic market, among others in the distribution network. It is a sectoral investor which holds several other alcohol plants in Poland: among them Polmos Józefów,” says Sylwester Kloskowski, Vice-President of Szczecińska Fabryka Wódek Starka. The information available at the National Court Register suggests that the new owner has also engaged in the construction of roads. 

 

At present every month the plant produces up to 100 thousand bottles of plain vodka for various clients, including chains of convenience stores and Starka. The facility has four production lines − two automatic ones used for 0.3 l bottles and one for bigger 1.75 l bottles and a semi-automatic line used for Starka production. The plant currently hires 24 persons the majority of which was employed at the times of Polmos.

 

At its peak time Polmos ran five lines which produced 250 thousand bottles a day and hired 200 persons. “This shows the potential of our production capacity,” says the head of Starka and describes the company's plans: Over the next three years we want to become one of the five biggest strong alcohol producers in Poland. We put in a great deal of effort to ensure that our plant uses state-of-the-art devices in the production of vodka and laboratory tests. The facilities have been undergoing modernisation since 2012. We are one of the few plants in Poland to use e.g. chill-filtration.

 

Starka's biggest automatic alcoholic beverages production line is being upgraded. This year, for the first time in its history, the plant will see bottling of Starka Premium White. "It will be top-quality pure white vodka," says Sylwester Kloskowski. The line will also be used for the production of the youngest Starkas in new bottles. 

 

This year the facility will also produce more 40% Starkas (earlier lots were 50%) in new painted bottles: 18-, 21-, 25-, 30- and, for the first time in the history of the plant 35-year-old Starka. 

 

"The market is so receptive that we sell our entire production. I happen to know that in several points of sale there are Starka waiting lists. Even if we bottled all our reserves, there would be clients willing to buy. We do, however, have to make sure that our raw materials are used in the best possible way. This is why we release limited series of 1.6 − 5 thousand bottles," says the Vice-President of Starka. The flagship product of the Szczecin plant is distributed via a central warehouse in Warsaw to several warehouses all over the country and then to specialist shops (also on-line) as well as restaurants and bars.

 

This year the plant will market 10 thousand bottles of 21-year old whiskey. It was purchased over ten years ago and stored in an oak cask. Next year the company will release three limited editions (approx. 150 bottles each) of Starkas in crystal carafes. Some of them will be available to celebrate The Tall Ships Races 2017. The plant will use some of its reserves stored in the three oldest barrels dating back to 1946-47. 

 

“Starka's reserves maturing in barrels would be enough to produce over one million 0.7l bottles. We are planning to bottle the current reserves gradually over 15-20 years. At the same time we will be adding new liquor to our basements. The newest one will be bottled in 12-15 years," says Sylwester Kloskowski.

 

The company also makes plans about its headquarters. The building at Jagiellońska Street will house a museum with objects related to the production of alcohol and old pictures of Polmos the history of which goes back to 1864. Starka will offer guided tours around the plant's basements. The museum could also be used for business and social meetings.

 

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