Milling and bakery producer Farinsan posted a 7 million-euro turnover in the first six months of the year, up 70% against the same time last year.
"This progression was primarily prompted by a rise in the price of raw materials, as well as by the constant diversification of our product range. We are hoping to maintain the same turnover growth rate until the end of the year," stated Ioan Vladu, general manager of the company.
Farinsan posted an approximately 11 million-euro turnover last year, up by around 48% against the previous year; therefore exceeding initial estimates, which stood at 9 million euros. If the growth rate announced by the company is met, Farinsan could see a business worth approximately 18 million euros this year.
"The fact that we exceeded our estimates was related to the over one million-euro investments required to modernise the bread plant including the introduction of new production lines, the setting up of a lab and an increase in the milling capacity, by around 10-12%, to 200 tonnes a day," said Vladu.
This year, the company launched a type of biscuit flour and intends to launch two other types of pastry flour under the Unopan brand. "The biggest sales were generated by flour used by bakeries and pizza flour, which is retailed in one kilo-bags and has seen an over 50% increase in its sales volume since the beginning of the year," added the company representative.
As a result of an increase in the price of wheat, company representatives increased the price of flour from 0.77 RON per kilo to 0.85 RON per kilo. "The prices will continue to rise this year, depending on the cost of wheat," said the general manager of the company.
According to players in the milling and bakery industry, this year the price per kilo of wheat ranges from 0.55 to 0.58 RON, double last year's level of approximately 0.33-0.34 RON, and could reach around 0.75-0.8 RON per kilo by the last quarter of the year.
Farinsan does not have sufficient stocks of wheat to cover the entire year. As a result, by the end of this year, Farinsan will have to resort to importing through specialised traders. "Around 25-30% of the total raw materials required will be imported," said Ioan Vladu.
According to associations in the milling and bakery industry, the halving of the wheat production, caused by the drought, will generate an increase in wheat imports, to one million tonnes.
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