Polish meat business lifts sales as cash injection looms
Gzella Poland aims to invest in raising its output capacity, expanding its product portfolio, and hiring new employees at its plant in Osie, in the country’s north-western region.
Currently, Gzella’s meat processing facility has a capacity of more than 6,000 tonnes per month. The plant’s output is sold to major retailers in the Polish market, as well as distributed through the company’s retail network, which consists of about 280 stores.
Retail chain under development
The company’s retail outlets, operated under the brand of Delikatesy Mięsne (Meat Delicatessen), are concentrated in Poland’s northern and western regions, with 93 stores in the Pomorskie region, 73 outlets in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region, and a further 42 in the Zachodniopomorskie region.
In addition to the domestic market, the company exports its products to Sweden, Norway, France, Slovakia, Ukraine and Belarus, and is certified to sell its output to countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Gzella says it operates a fleet of more than 70 trucks to supply its products to customers.
The meat processor specialises in processing pork and poultry. Gzella’s product range comprises a wide range of hams, salamis, sausages, smoked sausage sticks, frankfurters, filets, and bacon, according to data released by the Polish company.
The firm’s meat processing facility was launched in 2004, and in 2010, it was expanded by a storage facility with a surface of some 2,400 square metres.
The company was set up in 1985 by local businessman Miroslaw Gzella and is headquartered in Osie, about 266km from the country’s capital Warsaw. Gzella said its meat processing facility is BRC-, QAFP- and IFS-certified.
ABP mulls investment
On a related note, as a number of domestic and foreign companies are planning to invest in increasing their meat processing capacities in Poland, ABP Food Group is reportedly considering to open its fourth plant in the Polish market.
The investment is to be carried out in the coming two to three years, according to a company representative.
“We are not planning to build a new plant, but we want to take over an existing facility from a Polish company,” the unnamed representative told local news site Portalspozywczy.pl.
Currently, ABP owns three meat processing facilities in Poland. Of these, two are located in Pniewy and Klosowice, both in the country’s western region, and one in Tykocin, in eastern Poland. ABP acquired the latter plant in late 2016 from local processor Sklodowsky, allowing the group to raise its production capacity in the Polish market to up to 250,000 cattle per year.
The three plants process beef, which is largely intended for export markets. Some of the main export destinations include Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Slovenia.
