Investing in the Czech Republic - Outside of Prague - Part 2: Olomouc Property

!±8± Investing in the Czech Republic - Outside of Prague - Part 2: Olomouc Property

Olomouc is an excellent choice for real estate investors and following
is a profile of the city. Those of you who have read my newsletter before know my dispassionate
style of presenting things so here are the facts on Olomouc as they may affect investors…

Area: 103.36 km2

Population (latest data December 31, 2003): 101,268

Distance from important European and Czech cities:

City /
kms

Brno /  76

Ostrava /  100

Prague /  277

Vienna /  198

Bratislava /  197

Warsaw /  474

Budapest /   389

Berlin /  500

Paris /  1 302

Average monthly salary for Olomouc region (2003): 15 491 CZK

Average monthly salary for Czech Republic (2003): 17 445 CZK

Average monthly salary for Czech Republic (2005 2nd Q): 18 763 CZK

Education: 16% of residents in Olomouc have University level education

Average temperature in January: - 2°C to -4°C

Average temperature in July: 15°C to 19°C

Foreign Investors in Olomouc

(by no means comprehensive, only a sampling)

Investor (Country) / Business Activity / Year /Employees (2004)

Nestle Cesko, s.r.o. (Switzerland) /  Production of chocolate and chocolate candies /  1992 /  800

Foundeik, s.r.o. (Spain) /  Foundry /  2000 /  215

M.L.S. Holice, spol. s.r.o. Group Leroy (France) /  Production of alternators; sale, maintenance and repairs of rotating electric motors /  1922 /  770

Mora Aerospace, a.s. (USA) /  Development, designing, production, testing, maintenance, repairs, modifications and construction changes of the aviation technique /  1999 / 640

Mora Moravia a.s. (Slovakia, Hungary) /   Manufacture and sale of cooking technology appliances / 1996 /  640

Senior Automotive Czech, s.r.o. (UK) /  Production of shaped aluminum and steel pipes for the automotive industry / 2001 /   260

SIWE, a.s. (Austria) /  Production of forming, cutting and bending tools /  1992 /  143

TIMKEN Ceska Republika, s.r.o. (USA) /  Production of needle and roller bearings for automotive and engineering industry /  2001 /  523

Skanska DS, a.s. (Sweden) /  Construction of motorways, city roads, parking areas; construction and reconstruction of bridges, sewage systems /  1954 /  185

Exerion Precision Technology Olomouc, s.r.o. (Netherlands) /  Metalworking and assembly of metal-frame structures and functional modules /  1998 /  110

Other Investment News

Schneider Logistics, a leading global logistics company, opened new shared services centre in Olomouc. Thanks to this million euro investment more than 300 new highly qualified jobs will be created here.

“We chose Olomouc mainly for its sufficient supply of qualified people. The new centre will serve customers of Schneider Logistics from all over Europe, which is why our demands, for example on employees’ language skills, are high,” commented Willem Jan van Vorstenbos, Managing Director of Schneider Logistics in Europe, and added: “Of course we intend to offer employees the most varied training relating to languages, accounting and working with our special software applications developed for processing invoices.”

Kappa Packaging opened a new plant for the production of packaging from backed corrugated board in the industrial zone Olomouc – Holice today. The new plant into which Kappa invested over 11 million euro will create more than 50 new jobs.

“The main factors behind the decision-making on the establishment of the new plant were the following: location in the heart of central Europe, know-how and skills of the original employees of the local plant Kappa Empack and – last but not lest – support of governmental organizations and representatives of local government,“ says Zden?k Suchitra, director of the Kappa Packaging plant in Olomouc.

The multinational company Head has decided to start the manufacture of skiing shoes in Litovel, Olomouc region. Head has acquired a factory in Litovel by reason of quick production start. Head plans to invest 2 million euros and create 120 jobs in the first phase.

Gerald Skrobanek, CEO Head Sport s.r.o. explained the reasons for this decision: “The advantage of the Czech Republic is mainly better logistics, but also higher labor productivity. Litovel offers an advantageous location and mainly experienced workers for our production technology. Mainly thanks to the very successful operations in the Czech Republic, the top management at Head decided not to move to the cheaper labor markets further to the East of Europe, but utilize the better infrastructure and eruditeness in the Czech Republic.”

Olomouc Property Figures

Apartment Rentals in CZK per month (2004 3rd Q):

(average range - exceptions can be found either way)

Size /  CZK/month

1 + 1 (studio or bachelor) /  4 000 - 5 500

2 + 1 (1 bedroom) /  5 000 - 7 000

3 + 1 (2 bedroom) /  6 000 - 9 000

4 + 1 (3 bedroom) /   6 000 - 10 000

House Sales in thousands of CZK per flat (2004 3rd Q):
(average range - exceptions can be found either way)

Size /  New Build /  Heritage Building

1 + 1 (studio or bachelor) / 650 - 950 / 500 - 700

2 + 1 (1 bedroom) / 800 - 1 200 /  700 - 900

3 + 1 (2 bedroom) / 1 300 - 2 500 / 900 - 1 700

4 + 1 (3 bedroom) / 1 800 - 3 000 / 1 200 - 2 100

Property Examples

(common closing prices are commonly 5 - 10% less than the asking price)

1 ½ bedroom (2.5 + 1) flat right in the middle of the old town section. Beautiful heritage building with view to the square. New kitchen and kitchen cupboards. Hardwood flooring and tall ceilings. Asking price: 2 050 000 CZK

1 bedroom (2 + 1) completely reconstructed close to the center section of town. Completely reconstructed. 52 m2. Balcony. Asking price: 1 350 000 CZK

2 bedroom (3 + 1) newly built flat on the top floor of a heritage building in the historic center of Olomouc. 88 m2. Balcony. Asking price: 2 266 000 CZK

As we’ve emphasized before, at Czech Point 101 we are not going to over-inflate figures or try to sell you on hyped up facts. Our goal is to inform you to make the best investment decisions possible.

Recommended Reference Websites

Olomouc tourism website [http://www.olomouc-tourism.cz/index.asp?lng=en]

Olomouc city website [http://www.olomoucko.cz/eng/%20]

The sources for this newsletter include the Olomouc city and CzechInvest.

Investing in the Czech Republic - Outside of Prague - Part 2: Olomouc Property

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Famous Chocolate Companies

!±8± Famous Chocolate Companies

Almost everyone loves chocolate, from the Meso-American peoples who cultivated it thousands of years ago to the modern day chocoholic. There's a wide variety of choices out there, from low end chocolate flavored bars referred to as "confections" to the priciest dark chocolate truffle, which contains a real black truffle. In between, you'll find every kind of bonbon, fudge, candy bar, and other chocolate treats. Some companies have become extremely famous for their chocolate. Here are a few.

Mars and the Hershey Company are the biggest manufacturers in the world, producing popular, inexpensive candies that are enjoyed by large numbers of people. Other important chocolate makers in this price range include Nestle, Cadbury, and Lindt.

They all make some of the most popular candies there are, but there have been recent concerns over quality decreases and the sourcing of these companies' chocolate, as some African chocolate producers make use of child and slave labor.

Hershey is the biggest company in North America that makes chocolate. Headquartered in the town of the same name in Pennsylvania, this company makes the area smell of cocoa. The town is also home to a theme park - Hershey's Chocolate World. The company was founded in the 1890s by Milton S. Hershey, and is most famous for Hershey's Kisses, the Hershey Bar, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Mars is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, and owned by the Mars family. That makes it one of the largest privately owned companies in the US. It's know for the Milky Way, Mars, and Snickers bars, as well as M&Ms and Twix.

Other chocolatiers make their candy for a market willing to pay a higher price for chocolate made from better ingredients. Such chocolatiers as Godiva, Leonidas, and others produce high end chocolates for people who want a truly high quality confection.

There are other chocolate makers that produce even more expensive chocolates, made from beans sourced from single plantations, using no fillers, and using only the best fruits, nuts, and other ingredients. However, they're often not as well known by the average person as the larger distributors.

One chocolate maker that most people think is fictional is Willy Wonka. In this fantasy movie this candy maker had a content to see who would take over as the new owner of a fantastic candy factory. They gave away gold tickets in chocolate bars and the winners came to the factory to be secretly evaluated. This movie was so popular it was remade recently with actor Johnny Depp. Although not a real chocolate factory it was popular and had a chocolate moat in the movie.

Chocolate has a big influence on many of us. While we might not think a lot about it on a daily basis, we'd be disappointed if we weren't able to get this wonderful confection any more. Next time you have a piece of chocolate, whether it's an inexpensive Hershey's bar or a fine, hand-crafted truffle, think about the famous chocolate makers who are responsible for it being there.

Famous Chocolate Companies

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Breakfast Cereals = Junk Food

!±8± Breakfast Cereals = Junk Food

At the turn of the Twentieth Century protein was the king of nutrients, needed for health, strength and good energy. However nutritionists of the day such as John Harvey Kellogg began to criticise protein claiming it was bad for digestion, and later protein was also demonised for being bad for the kidneys, increasing acidity and being detrimental to bone health.

Everyone will be familiar with the name Kellogg, who extolled the virtues of carbohydrates and breakfast cereal with the invention of the humble corn flake. Even just making a corn flake is quite a feat of food processing that leaves a piece of corn far removed from how nature intended it. The corn kernels are cooked to the point of going stale, and then forced through rollers to produce flakes, which are then toasted and ready to eat. Consider that this process renders the corn flakes devoid of nutrition so the manufacturers have to add back to the mix a host of B vitamins and other nutrients. You may read on a food label "fortified with vitamins and minerals" as if this is something to be applauded.

I believe Mr Kellogg would be shocked today if he saw his name associated with the plethora of junk foods that are breakfast cereals today. I'm sure this devout Adventist who promoted the cleanest and healthiest way of living would be horrified seeing sugar coated chocolate grains being the staple of many people's breakfast. Research today shows us that even a 30g bowl of cereal may contain up to 11g of sugar. Consider that most breakfast cereals are also high on the GL scale, which means they will cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels - surely they cannot be marketed as health foods.

Well they are, see how the manufacturers of Special K brand it as a weight loss food, see how Nestle promote the benefits of whole grain cereals or that Shredded Wheat is good for the heart. This is marketing at its very worse, and what is even more alarming is that people believe it - why wouldn't they when they see a beautiful slim women being associated with Special K, or an ex-sporting legend promoting Shredded Wheat.

However, consider what Jonny Bowden calls a human's "factory specified food", it certainly isn't highly processed grains loaded with sugar and salt. I believe these junk foods are contributing (not the sole cause) to our epidemic of obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance and other chronic disease. What's the answer? What is our "factory specified food"?

Now, as I have assaulted all breakfast cereals as junk food (just read the label - they are full of sugar and salt and sometimes covered in chocolate - how could they not be junk food) I thought I would redeem myself by suggesting there are 2 cereals that I would be comfortable with people eating infrequently (this means once or twice a week).

These are porridge and muesli.

As always there are a couple of caveats to this rule. Both of these cereals contain oats, and oats contain gluten nowadays due to cross pollination, so if you are sensitive to gluten - don't eat oats. Instead you could look for a quinoa or amaranth based muesli that you can find in the health food store or simply make your own porridge from a mix of ground rice, quinoa or flax meal. If you are going to cook porridge add a little butter or coconut oil, flax seeds, slivered almonds and some berries to the mix. If you like it sweet add a teaspoon of xylitol or cinnamon.

Also look for brands of muesli that are low in sugar and high in nuts, seeds and coconut slivers and don't be afraid to add more nuts and seeds to the mix.

Don't use soy milk in either of these foods either. There are mixed opinions on soy, and I believe that traditional fermented soy eaten in moderation is fine, however highly processed soy products such as soy milk, soy cheese and soy yoghurt are also junk foods. If you don't have problems with dairy just use whole or semi skimmed milk, otherwise cook porridge with water and use some quinoa or almond milk on the muesli (I know these milks are processed too, but they are not oestrogenic like soy milk).

And don't put juice on your cereals - that is moronic. Why would you pour sugar loaded juice all over sugar loaded grains?

So if cereals are junk food (except porridge and muesli) you might be wondering what I do think is healthy to eat for breakfast. Here are my thoughts on a couple of conventional breakfast foods.

Eggs are a great breakfast food. Forget what you have heard about eggs being bad for your cholesterol or that the yolk bad for you as it is full of fat - this is complete nonsense! Eggs are a great source of protein, essential fats, B vitamins, vitamin D and vitamin A. Eat them anyway you like except fried. Have scrambled, poached or boiled eggs on wholegrain toast or try an omelette with spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes. Just don't eat eggs every day; 2-3 times a week is fine.

Plain whole Greek style yoghurt (such as Yeo Valley or Rachel's Organic) with mixed berries or sliced apple and ground seeds or toasted nuts is another great breakfast. Again this will provide you with some protein, fats and carbohydrates, the added berries and fruit provide fibre and antioxidants and the nuts or seeds provide more vitamins and minerals. Do not eat low fat or fruit yoghurts, these products are generally full of sugar!!!

I also think there is nothing wrong with having a healthy "grill up" once a week, find some good quality organic sausages and some bacon and eat it with poached eggs, steamed mushrooms and grilled tomatoes - yum!

Now I am going to reveal what I eat for breakfast almost every day. Bar the once a week healthy grill up or berries and yoghurt with some ground flax seeds, cinnamon and xylitol (YUM) I eat Meat and Nuts for breakfast.

This natural unprocessed food is what we are designed to eat (Jonny Bowden's "factory specified food"), not processed grains and a splash of dairy. I can hear you going "yuk" but just think about it. Go back a few thousand years and what do you think people would have eaten for breakfast.

Now we can't be 100% sure as we weren't there and don't really have any records from that time (apart from fossil remains and Palaeolithic bone remains - which by the way Palaeontologists such as Loren Cordain have good data suggesting the types of foods our ancestors ate), but there were certainly no processed grains, and people would probably have eaten what they had hunted and gathered the day before. They may have eaten the remains of hunted rabbit, bore or deer; they may have eaten some foraged berries or nuts or other plants, but not a bowel of Cheerio's!

Now it doesn't really matter what meat you want to eat, and when I say meat I mean to encompass meat, fish, seafood and poultry and simply eat a serving that will satisfy your appetite along with some raw unsalted nuts such as cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts or even Brazil nuts. You could also eat some berries or other low GL fruit such as apple or pear. This type of breakfast will certainly fill you up as you will get a healthy serving of protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals and the fruit will give you some added fibre.

I can hear the orthodox medical and nutritional mainstream shouting that this will raise cholesterol etc etc... Well, if you eat just as much seafood and fish as you do meat (which will provide omega 3 fats that are known to help improve cholesterol) and combine this with nuts that are full of beta sitosterols that again raise good HDL: and lower bad LDL cholesterol you should have no problems at all with this. Now there are always exceptions to the rule so just pay attention to your latest blood test results you get from the doctor, but in most cases blood markers for CVD and insulin resistance should improve.

It's important that you don't just eat the same type of meat every day. If you at beef everyday then that might cause you a problem, but if you rotate your foods sensibly you'll be providing a host of different nutrients to your body and your immune system will not build up a reaction to any one food.

Here is an example:

Day 1: Salmon fillet, handful of almonds and blueberries

Day 2: Turkey escallops, handful of cashews

Day 3: Homemade beef patty with pecans and raspberries

Day 4: Chicken strips with walnuts and sliced apple

Breakfast Cereals = Junk Food

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Origin and History of Chocolate

!±8± Origin and History of Chocolate

Chocolates are the most popular food around the world and across all ages. Chocolates are often used to show love and affection and people even have it to lift spirits. Ever wondered where this ubiquitous chocolate originated? Well, historians believe that the word Chocolate or Chocolatl originates from the Nahuatl word xocoatl or cacahuatl meaning bitter water. Some believe that it is a combination of the Mayan words "choco" and "haa" and the Nauhatl term "atl". Recently linguists proposed another theory that it originates from "chicolatl" from the word chico-li meaning to beat or stir and not Chocoatl. A Swedish person gave the cocoa plant its botanical name "Theobroma cacao" which when literally translated means "Food of the Gods".

Most of us know that chocolates are made from cocoa beans that have been cultivated for millions of years in the South American Rainforests. An archaeological survey showed the physical residue of chocolate in some Mayan pots suggesting that Mayans drank chocolate some 2600 years ago. Some believe that the cocoa plant was cultivated in the Amazon region for more than 4000 years. According to historians, the cacao tree was worshipped by the Mayans and the Aztecs offered chocolate to the God as an offering. According to ancient history, Aztecs brewed the cocoa beans with maize and capsicum to form a spicy bitter-sweet drink, which was fermented and used for ceremonies. Aztecs valued their cocoa beans, though it was not cultivated there. They got it through trade or war but it was treated equivalent to currency, with taxes being paid in the form of cocoa beans.

Cocoa trees have been linked by the Mexicans to Quetzalcoatl, who was the God of agriculture. Myth has it that Quetzalcoatl left the Aztec empire and the people anxiously awaiting his return, sent offerings of the cocoa beans and chocolate drink, when they saw a ship nearing their shores, believing it to be Quetzalcoatl. However, later they found out that the ship was an invading European ship, which wanted to conquer and acquire their lands.

Chocolate came to Europe in the 16th century with a Spanish explorer - Don Hernan Cortes. However, some historians differ and state that chocolate came to Europe through Christopher Columbus, who had these beans in his bag when he returned from his trip to search for the Americas.

Once in Europe, the tradition of drinking hot chocolate, as we know it today, began in Spain. The Spaniards did not like to consume it the Aztec way. They ground cocoa beans to paste and mixed it with spices, vanilla and honey. Then brewed and poured it into cups from great height to create a frothy feeling. This drink was served to travelers and was a common drink with the nobility. Historians might differ over who brought the bean culture to Europe but they are all united over the fact that it was Don Cortes who popularized the drink. Initially, this drink was popular with the Spaniards but almost a century later, it became popular in the rest of Europe. Chocolate went to the French much later and the French, being culinary trendsetters, popularized the drink and created modern day coffee houses that serve this delicious beverage.

America was introduced to the wonders of chocolate well before England in the late 16th century when the first chocolate factory was established in 1765. During World War II, the US Government realized the importance of the chocolate bars and the instant energy that it provided and immediately shipped a lot of these bars to the soldiers. Chocolate came to England in the late 17th century, when Sir Hans Sloane was drinking cocoa in Jamaica and finding it unpalatable, added milk. As he liked it, he took the recipe to England. However, initially this brew was sold in England as medicine in apothecaries! This recipe was then used by Cadburys to manufacture the chocolate as we know it today. The first commercial chocolate factory was established in the late 18th century in Bristol by Walter Churchman.

In the early 19th century, a Dutch chocolate maker, by the name of Conrad J. van Houten, patented the method of removing fat from cocoa beans and producing a cake like substance which when dried and powdered led to the creation of what we know today as cocoa powder. This cocoa powder was then treated with alkaline salts, which made it easily soluble in water. This was the starting point for creating chocolates in the form that we know and love today. Cocoa powder is extensively used in the manufacture of cakes, chocolate drinks and chocolate bars.

After the production of cocoa in the powder form, the next obvious step was to make chocolate in the solid form, as the bars we get to see these days. The first primitive version of the chocolate bar was initially created by J.S. Fry and Son in 1847, when they mixed sugar and cocoa butter with chocolate powder to produce a dry, grainy and not particularly tasty solid slab. The Swiss being naturally creative, invented newer forms of chocolate, more like the ones we love and know today. Invention of milk chocolate by adding more milk and sugar to the existing recipe was made by Henri Nestle and Daniel Peters.

Origin and History of Chocolate

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