February 11, 2025, marks an anniversary for WICA and Arneg. Today, it has been 20 years since WICA became part of the Arneg group!
With Arneg, WICA gained access to one of the market's largest product ranges, efficient production technology, and joint research and development (R&D).
Niklas, who is the CEO of WICA, has been part of the entire journey and says this about the past 20 years:
- It has been an incredibly exciting journey to see WICA grow and develop over the past 20 years. Many of us have been here for these 20 years, and we have also gained many new employees who, with great commitment, have created success through innovation in close collaboration with Arneg, always with the customer's best interests in focus. Being part of the Arneg group has given us unique opportunities. Their knowledge and support have been crucial to our growth and success.
Since the early 90s, WICA had experienced good development and was in a position where it was looking for the next step to take. When Arneg made contact at the end of 2004, WICA realized that Arneg's philosophy was aligned with WICA's. This has been a key factor in their success. Manufacturing works best close to the customer and gives the customer good insight into the operations; an extremely important factor now that sustainability issues are a top priority for the entire society.
WICA retains its family-owned history, just like Arneg, and today employs over 300 people with manufacturing and development in Småland's Vislanda. Over the past 20 years, WICA has grown to include an additional five companies, expanding Arneg and WICA's presence in the Nordics and Baltics with an additional 150 employees. WICA is thus one of the larger subsidiaries in the Arneg group, which employs a total of 3,600 people. Niklas notes:
- WICA's culture is strong, but our hearts now also belong to the entire Nordics and Baltics as well as northern Italy, which is not so different from Småland, except for the food!
Thank you to all partners, customers, and suppliers for a great collaboration over these 20 years. We now look forward to many more years where we together contribute to unique grocery stores and a greener planet!