The country’s largest burnt chestnut plantation has had a few months to recover

Sarkpont Zrt. is the country’s largest and most modern chestnut processor. Its founder and manager, Károly Egyed, has been addicted to sweet chestnuts since childhood. Today, he has created – and is re-creating – the largest processing plant not only in the country, but perhaps in the region. Sarkpont Zrt.’s defining, but far from its only, product is the chestnut puree, which is loved by many. The company and its manager devote all their energy to building a culture of special and healthy fruit through variety breeding, continuous gastronomic product innovations, and nutritionally conscious developments.

The specialist, who also has a degree in mathematics and engineering, designs and programs the company’s special, highly automated production lines himself, and the selected raw materials arrive at the plant from all over Southern Europe, and sometimes even from overseas, in September-October, when 80-85% of the annual production is made. This will be the case this year as well, if the factory can be rebuilt by then. Dr. Zsolt Neszményi, the Lord Governor of Somogy County, and László Szászfalvi, the region’s Member of Parliament, also assured the disaster-stricken Sarkpont Zrt. of their support. They promised support for wages and the reconstruction of the plant, as well as the urgent granting of a building permit.

Chestnuts cannot be stored for a long time, because their quality quickly deteriorates – explained Károly Egyed. It is best to process them within 48 hours of arrival, and we will do so, as we have done every year since 1993. The situation is of course much more complicated now than in previous years; we cannot calmly wait for the harvest and spend time on product development and market development. The new hall must be ready by September, and the production lines must be rebuilt. Many people have promised various kinds of help, which, as the manager added, will soon become clear whether they mean anything in practice.

The work has already begun, they are waiting for the approval of the construction plans, they hope that they will be able to run through the system quickly. In the meantime, the parts necessary for the machines must also be acquired, and assembly is also a huge job, obviously only after the hall. Moreover, by hall we mean not only the walls and the roof ‒ all destroyed ‒ but also a significant infrastructure necessary for food production, with a special utility network and performance. The contractors essentially maintain the necessary capacities for them, but there are many tasks. Not only are they struggling with administrative deadlines ‒ Károly Egyed pointed out ‒ but, for example, the bank, with which they have been in contact almost since the beginning, is now quite unfriendly, almost hostile to their cause, when it is really needed.