Økoladen – The known choice

Økoladen produces organic chocolate from its factory in Ørslev and has specialised in organic handmade quality since the early 2000s, with exports to several European markets. Production covers a broad range, from chocolate bars and dragées to spreadable chocolate, where Økoladen is one of the largest producers in Europe.

The company has recently invested in a new 2MP40 enrober from Chocoma, which supplements their existing 2MP24 — a Chocoma machine that has been in operation since 1996.

 

The known versus the untested

When expansion requires additional capacity on an existing line, that capacity must be added. And the question facing a financial decision-maker is whether to choose what you know or try something new. The new option may look attractive on paper — a different price, different specifications, new features. But it also introduces unknown factors into a production that is already running. How the new machine performs in day-to-day operation, how the servicing holds up over time, how long it lasts in production — those are questions you only get answers to once you are already committed to the investment.

At Økoladen, the financial decision was to go with the known. The existing 2MP24 had proved its worth over more than three decades, and the choice of another Chocoma machine was therefore not a matter of loyalty, but of risk mitigation. Once you have a supplier that has proved reliable, there is no reason to experiment with one you do not know.

Operational reliability is a financial parameter

For the person responsible for the company’s finances, operational reliability is not a technical detail. It is a direct financial parameter. A machine that stands still costs money, in lost production, in service visits, in staff waiting, and in delivery commitments that cannot be met. And the more central the machine is to the production flow, the more expensive the cost of failure becomes.

The old machine is not being scrapped

A question that often arises in a capacity expansion is what to do with the existing equipment. At Økoladen, the older 2MP24 is neither being scrapped nor sold on. It is being reserved for running white chocolate only, while the new 2MP40 takes the leading role in the rest of the production. It is a practical and financially sensible decision — the machine still runs impeccably, and by dedicating it to a single type of chocolate, you avoid the cleaning time between product changes that would otherwise cost production minutes.

In this way, the investment shifts from replacing the old to expanding overall production capacity. And the older machine, which has delivered stable operation for three decades, takes on a new role, continuing to contribute to the company’s production.