Cars, team, and values: the annual event of "Vilniaus duona"

As every year, Artūras Kokoškinas, the head of "Vilniaus duona," reviewed the bread market, the company's current issues, and the most important tasks. Vilnius bakery manager Dalia Zdanovičienė and Panevėžys bakery manager Šarūnė Kiznienė spoke about what bakeries are doing today.

"The year was full of challenges. But when is it different for us? The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and last year – the BP3 business systems management project. A person or manager probably does such a mega-scale project once in their lifetime. And we successfully managed it. We are leaders in the competitive bread market," said Artūras.

Safety and health first

An important topic of the event was also employee safety. Neringa Melnikavičienė emphasized the common goal – that there should not be a single accident in bakeries. Working with production equipment is an ambitious goal: currently, the Vilnius bakery has been operating without accidents for 44 days, and Panevėžys for 95 days.

We were also proud of our colleagues who took important career steps this year. One of the most prominent examples is Viktorija Balčiūnienė, who went from a quality specialist to a production manager. Also, a small group of colleagues who joined newly this year. 

Quality works even when the audit is unexpected.

Quality manager Viktorija Lėgaudaitė-Lydekaitienė recalled yet another commendable result – both "Vilniaus duona" bakeries have received the highest BRCGS AA+ rating.

"We can be proud that our quality and safety processes work even when no one is standing behind us. AA+ means that even during a surprise audit, when the entire chain was checked – from raw materials, production, and equipment to product quality and logistics – everything was at the highest level. This means that each of us understands: quality starts with my actions, and the result depends on all of us," said Viktorija.

Vilnius Bakery has had investment projects this year

Dalia Zdanovičienė, the manager of Vilnius Bakery, presented a packaging automation project and one of her latest projects – the production of portion rolls for the Danish market.

"What is most important for a bakery? To have the workload. This means the bakery is operating at good capacity and everyone has work to do. After implementing the project to supply batch rolls to the Danish market, the line load now reaches 84 percent. Our group colleagues jokingly called us R2D2 – like in "Star Wars," and we became their indispensable assistant. And we completed the entire project in just three months from the final decision," Dalia said, thanking the local and international team.

The Panevėžys bakery operates around the clock

Šarūnė Kiznienė, the manager of the Panevėžys bakery, noted that when talking about production, tons, productivity, projects, and investments are often mentioned, but behind every number, there are people first.

"Our bakery operates around the clock, except for a few hours spent on supervision, cleaning, and inspection. This year, we invested in dough mixing, shaping, and packaging equipment, as well as packaging automation, so that colleagues don't have to manually place slices into the packages. But every day, people get the job done – as a team," said Šarūnė, expressing her gratitude to her team.

"There is no boredom in the bread sector"

Artūras Kokoškinas joined "Vilniaus duona" 12 years ago to lead marketing. At that time, he admits, he imagined the bread sector quite differently.

"I was considering what I would have to do in the bread sector. I imagined it would be very monotonous. But when it comes to boredom, there is no boredom here. The pace is fast: projects, investments, introduction of new products. After all, about every third loaf of bread baked for the Lithuanian table is made here. It is both a great honor and a great responsibility," Artūras said.

The manager also thanked those departments whose work often remains less visible precisely because everything operates smoothly and in a coordinated manner: the accounting, IT, and HR teams.

We presented benefit programs

Jūratė Kudabaitė-Staškevičienė, the HR manager, also reminded employees of the additional benefits offered – from birth benefits and support for the start of the school year to health insurance.

"We have insured all employees against accidents around the clock – whether at work or at home. For colleagues who have worked for half a year, we provide health insurance with unlimited remote doctor consultations," Jūratė explained.

Over the year, "Vilniaus duona" allocated more than a quarter of a million euros for additional employee benefits.

We awarded ambassadors of values

One of the most important traditions of the event is the Values Ambassadors Awards. This year, we once again honored 9 colleagues who vividly embody our values through their daily work: openness, drive, and a holistic approach. And also a colleague who received a health and safety award.

We will tell about them separately – their stories deserve special attention.

Dynamic racing cars

To keep the official part from becoming tedious, our brand manager and unofficial ambassador of good mood, Jolita Ažusienė, helped colleagues get up from their seats for a group dance. Those who were in the mood joined in to join in to the cheerful song "Vilniaus duona" created by Artiom Bučinskas and artificial intelligence. This colleague also organized a "Kahoot" quiz, which tested how attentively everyone listened to their colleagues' presentations. 

After the presentations, the car development workshops began. 

Nine teams drawn by lot built their cars and later competed on the track. There was certainly no shortage of drive here – some teams managed to finish even after losing their tires! This team-building event was taken care of by our partners "ŪPAS."

We ended the evening with a communal dinner, an illusionist's program, and dancing. And the floor quickly filled up, especially when our quality manager inspired the dances, who doesn't know – Viktorija Lėgaudaitė-Lydekaitienė, who holds the title of Lithuanian standard dance champion, and Edmundas Šileikis, a technician who will soon celebrate his 50th anniversary at Vilnius Bread.