Milzu! – 3 pillars of success

Why do some small food producers grow to be giants and others cease to exist? And what does it have to do with data flow?

Less than a decade ago Milzu! came out of nowhere with a line of organic cereal for kids. In recent years, the company has introduced many more products from cereals to meat alternatives. Staying true to their core values and innovating all the way – not only with ingredients and formulas, but also supply chain – has helped them to make the most of opportunities and trends.

1. Pillar: Vision supported by long term partnerships

Success of Milzu! is grounded in understanding the market and the consumer. According to Evija Štrausa, leading business development at Milzu!: “We looked at gaps in the market, taking into account consumer needs and global trends. We always choose very carefully where to invest, what tools to implement and which partners to establish cooperation with.”

In 2014, Milzu! started working with Telema, first using web-based services in combination with their first simple ERP, WinLats. Following rapid business development, the company soon had to upgrade the accounting system to Visma Horizon. Milzu! Operations Lead Indra Petrovska-Petrēviča comments on the partnership: “Cooperation with our EDI operator Telema has always been smooth and  has supported us in establishing effective cooperation with the leading supermarket chains in Latvia. In the ERP upgrade process , the exchange of EDI documents with retailers was never interrupted.”

As a sidenote, when the company key user changed, it took the new user less than a day to master the EDI process – that’s how simple and intuitive it is!

2. Pillar: Ambition 

From the very beginning, Milzu! was aware that their products were good enough for selling beyond the local markets. In a small business with a clear vision, every employee has many responsibilities. It is important that everyone creates the greatest possible value. 

Mārtiņš Koks, Milzu! Baltic and Polish sales manager, explains: “Telema helps us save 3 work days every month on document processing. We like to make sure  that our team members are not wasting time on processes where systems, software or devices can perform faster and more accurately.”

One of the major challenges in the data flow used to be different order formats – it was difficult for people to read and detect possible mistakes. Now that the orders arrive through the Telema EDI system and are machine readable, everything is clear. The company saves both time and energy. According to research, processing machine-readable EDI documents is up to six times faster than ordinary files.

In 2020, the company’s turnover approached one million euros. Milzu! products are delivered to more than 20 countries around the world, the company now cooperates with agents, distribution companies, logistics centers, B2B and B2C customers. 

3. Pillar: Efficiency

Today,  there are hundreds of documents exchanged weekly. They are all still handled by one person thanks to well designed processes, facilitated by modern EDI solutions. 

As for the next step, Milzu! is planning to  start using Telema 4DOC solution. This will ensure that the entire  transaction document flow (orders, despatch advices, receiving advices and invoices) takes place in one environment. Milzu! is already benefiting from using  the receiving advices from Rimi in their document flow.

Milzu! looks to the future with a long-term vision, export ambitions and the courage to ask and seek solutions. Enno Ence, founder of the company, elaborates: “In the coming years Milzu! will focus on development of new products in collaboration with scientists. Expanding production capacity and distribution network are tasks we’re looking forward to. We will also be focusing on increasing efficiency through further automation of data flows via EDI.”