The products included several types of ready-meals, among them schnitzel with mashed potatoes, pot roast with potato wedges, and roasted chicken with new potatoes, the head of Miratorg’s press service, Dmitry Sergeev, said.
“At the moment, we are tracking feedback and creating a new order with a specified list of products and the expanded scope of supply,” he said. All deliveries are destined for one of the top retail chains in Germany, Sergeev added.
Expanding range
Miratorg-West spent RUB1bn (£12m) modernising its Kaliningrad plant last year, increasing overall capacity to 80,000t per year and expanding its product range to 200 items. The company expects output to hit 52,000t in 2016, up 47% year-on-year.
Miratorg-West has also recently supplied its first exports to Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Mongolia.
It is planning for further export growth on the back of its increasingly diverse product range.
Sergeev said: “The range has been updated with new releases: in 2016 it has been expanded to include stewed meat, while the line of ready-meals has now got a range of Georgian dishes, as well as new products like soups, burgers and vegetarian nuggets.
“Miratorg-West delivers frozen foods to the largest international restaurant chains, such as McDonald`s, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Shake Shack, and others,” he added.
Focus on Europe
European expansion remains the top priority for Miratorg-West, however.“The European market is one of the priorities for our future development,” said Zhanna Malkova, general director of Miratorg-West. “Chicken products for Miratorg are already available in some EU countries. The high quality of Miratorg’s products give creditability for our customers, and thanks to the devaluation of the ruble, cooperation is particularly economically advantageous.”
Miratorg-West already exports chicken products to Italy and Serbia, Sergeev said. “Russia received FMD-free status in 2016, which makes it possible to negotiate on the supply to EU of high-quality marble beef grown without the use of hormones and growth stimulants.”
The company grew its overall volume of meat sales for the first six months of 2016 by 16% year-on-year, hitting 342,000t of meat.