Swiss-owned processed meats producer Angst Ro intends to double sales of Sibiu salami by introducing to the market a product based on a recipe dating back to the interwar period.
"We are looking to double sales from the current 40-50 tonnes to 100-120 tonnes after we launch the Sibiu salami we are now testing with a view to starting production. The new salami is based on an old recipe by the Romanian specialist who worked for the Italian Dotzi brothers - the first to make Sibiu salami in Romania at the beginning of the last century," says Sorin Minea, chief executive of Angst Ro. Angst turned over of 30 million euros in Romanian last year, an increase of 30% on 2003.
Sibiu salami is one of a number of traditional Romanian products - including Plescoi sausages and Buzau pretzels - on the list of products whose origin will be protected once Romania joins the EU. According to Minea, the Angst-produced Sibiu salami accounts for 10% of Angst''s sales and more than 50% of all sales of Sibiu salami in Romania. "We have changed the production system so as to turn an automated system into an air-conditioned system for drying, which is similar to that used at the beginning of last century," Minea explained. The raw-dried salami market is growing as a result of the shift in customer tastes towards these product types.
German firm Reinert recently announced it would enter the Romanian market through an investment of some 15 million euros in a raw-dried salami production facility in the vicinity of Brasov.
Their entry on the market could challenge the product portfolio of domestic manufacturers of raw-dried products, especially producers of Sibiu salami.
Most major meat products producers also operate on the market for raw-dried salami.
Angst has two production facilities: in Sibiu and Buftea, near Bucharest. stelian.negrea@zf.ro
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