Processed meats producer Campofrio Romania, the Romanian branch of Campofrio Alimentacion of Spain, made 30% higher sales in the first quarter of this year and has announced it may buy assets from smaller players, such as production lines or buildings to establish a farm.
"Last year was a good year for Campofrio, both in terms of sales and in terms of profits. 2005 started out the same, such that we enjoyed higher growth than the overall market in this period," says Ovidiu Wencz, Campofrio Romania''s general manager.
Campofrio concluded 2004 with 25 million euros in turnover, 10% more than in 2003, and has estimated growth for this year will reach 15%.
The highest increases in sales were seen for salami, sausages, and vegetal products. The ham segment witnessed moderate growth.
"The sales trend will largely depend on grain production. If we have a good harvest then we will have cheap fodder and therefore raw material for processors, lower prices and bigger sales," Wencz explained.
Campofrio has drawn up a 5-6 million euro investment plan that it will fund from its own resources. It also intends to invest a further 1 million euros of Sapard funding.
"The investments will be for retooling of the production and distribution facilities in order to reach EU standards. At the same time we will complete all investments in the farm project," Wencz added. He explained that the company was not considering acquisition of a Romanian brand, though it was interested in the assets of a Romanian producer. "There are some Romanian producers that will no longer be able to continue their operations and are therefore thinking of selling," Wencz said.
US pork industry giant Smithfield owns a 22% share in Campofrio Alimentacion. Last year Smithfield acquired most of the assets of the former swine rearing farm ComTim Timisoara, food distributor Agroalim Distribution and Romania''s largest cold storage facility operator, Frigorifer Tulcea. stelian.negrea@zf.ro
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