For most people, Cedo’s Paclan brand is well known, but the firm also produces bin-bags, freezer bags and baking foil for many supermarkets under private labels. Since 1993, the firm has been manufacturing in Poland. Since then, the Cedo factory has grown through the acquisition of a neighbouring plant, and by next year a further 7,000m2 facility will be added.

Employing 700 people, Cedo is a major employer in Kąty Wrocławskie, south-west of Warsaw. The company is focused on increasing its sustainability, by sourcing ever-higher amounts of recycled plastics as the raw material for its products.

Last year, the BPCC held a meeting of its Manufacturing Industries Group at the Cedo plant, at which there was a discussion about recruitment of workers from Ukraine in the run-up to Ukraine’s association agreement with the EU coming into force. There was much concern that once they could work freely across the entire Schengen zone, Ukrainian workers would leave Lower Silesia for better-paid jobs in Germany, Holland or Denmark. Fears proved generally unfounded, as in practice most Ukrainians working in Poland like the cultural and geographical proximity to their homeland. Indeed, at Cedo’s 25th anniversary event, held at Zamek Topacz, a hotel and spa complex near Wrocław, many Ukrainian voices could be heard among the 550 or so employees who came to celebrate.

The firm is committed to long-term sustainable growth and a second quarter-century of manufacturing in Lower Silesia looks certain.