With the aim of raising the facility’s slaughtering capacity, earlier this year, SuperDrob opened a new hall fitted with a total floorspace of 1,700 square metres, according to senior company representatives. Construction work was launched in September 2015, and completed this February. The facility was fitted with machinery by April 2016.
“The new investment will allow our company to raise our slaughtering capacity from 7,500 to 10,000 head per hour,” Jan Grzegrzolka, production director at the plant in Karczew, told local business news site Portalspozywczy.pl.
Investments in the pipeline
In addition to its latest project in Karczew, the Polish company is carrying out further investments at its plant in Lodz, in the country’s central part. The facility is currently fitted with three meat processing lines, and SuperDrob is aiming to expand it by launching a fourth line. Under the plan, the new line will process 1.5 tonnes per hour. The investment is expected to create 30 new jobs at the plant, according to Pawel Olczyk, managing director of the Lodz-based facility.
The latest investments are part of SuperDrob’s plan to invest at least PLN200 million (€45.5m) with the aim of building new facilities and further increasing its sales, as announced by senior company representatives. These are related to the rising demand for the company’s products both in the domestic and foreign markets, SuperDrob said.
Strong poultry meat consumption
Poultry meat remains Poland’s second most popular type of meat, as in 2015 an average Pole consumed 28kg of poultry meat, according to data released by the Warsaw-based Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics (IERiGZ). Poultry meat is preceded solely by pork, with an annual consumption of about 39.5kg per capita in Poland. Beef remains the country’s third most popular type of meat, and an average Pole consumes about 1.5kg of beef, as shown by figures from the Polish Association of Beef Cattle Breeders (PZPBM).
Established in 1993 and based in Karczew, SuperDrob owns three plants in Poland, in Karczew, Lodz and Koluszki. The meat processor said its product portfolio consisted of hams, sausages, strips, fillets, rolls and other processed poultry meat products. Some of SuperDrob’s main export destinations include the UK and Ireland, according to figures from the firm. In addition to this, the meat processor is present in France, Germany and Switzerland. In 2011, SuperDrob obtained permission to export its output to the Chinese market, where it also has a presence. In total, export sales generate more than 50% of the Polish firm’s revenues.
The company employs 2,000 staff. SuperDrob said its facilities were HACCP- and BRC-certified, and that it was now the seventh-largest poultry meat processor in the Polish market.