“In all, the first half was very good for the Kosarom group, despite a difficult first quarter. We saw sales growth of 12% to 15% and hope our sales will increase in the second half, as well,” Neculai Apostol, Kosarom chairman, said.
Kosarom is an integrated business in that it makes the feed, raises chicken and swine, does the slaughtering, processes the meat and distributes it.
The group includes Kosarom, Agricola Targu Frumos, Suinprod and Avi-Top, which posted more than EUR40 million revenue in 2014.
The largest company is Kosarom, whose revenue stood at 121 million lei (EUR27 million) in 2014, according to Finance Ministry data.
Kosarom is one of the most powerful Romanian-owned businesses still standing on the meat market, where the largest player by far is Smithfield.
The company sells its products via Kaufland network and its own 28-store chain.
“We want to increase the number of stores to 50 by next year.”
The entrepreneur also wants to develop exports, which currently account for about 15% of the revenue. It is currently exporting meat products to Germany, UK, Spain and Italy.
Neculai Apostol believes the food VAT cut from 24% to 9% as of June 1 was good for everybody, including consumers, and was a breath of fresh air for producers.
Kosarom plans to invest in development of sow farms and in poultry farming, but its owner wants to see if the economy is supportive first.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)