Polish meat processor posts record sales
Although the company maintains a strong presence in the domestic market, its improved financial results were also driven by higher export sales.
“We were able to issue further bonds and we also expanded our product portfolio,” said Grzegorz Minczanowski, chief executive of ZM Henryk Kania. “The factors that significantly contributed to the success of ZM Henryk Kania included our modern production capacities, cooperation with the largest retail and discount chains in the country, and also the expansion of our product range based on the latest trends and consumers’ expectations.”
Exports on the rise
Last year, the Polish meat processor generated about 94% of its revenues in the domestic market, while exports to various European Union member states were responsible for the remaining 6% of the company’s sales. This said, ZM Henryk Kania managed to raise its export sales by a robust 42% last year, while the firm’s revenues in the Polish market increased by some 24%.
The meat processor’s net profit for 2016 totalled PLN79.3m (€18.6m), up 25.3% compared with a year earlier, according to ZM Henryk Kania’s annual financial report.
As a result of the higher sales, ZM Henryk Kania was able to expand its workforce to 849 employees, creating 22 new jobs.
ZM Henryk Kania operates a meat processing plant in Pszczyna, in the country’s south-western Silesia region, where it is also headquartered. The company specialises in making various pork meat products. These include hams, frankfurters, sausages, pâtés, dry sausages and other products sold under the Henryk Kania and Maestro brands. In the Polish market, the meat processor sells its output through a number of major retail chains. These include Intermarché, Carrefour, Kaufland, Lidl, Makro and Netto, according to data from the firm.
New machinery to be purchased
Regarding the company’s plans for this year, Minczanowski said: “In 2017, we plan to fully use our potential and market perspectives.
“Our plans for the coming 12 months include, among others, expanding the product range of sliced and dry products, higher sales of products under our own brand, implementing a programme to add further machines to the processing activities, as well as optimising and automating production processes.”
Meanwhile, the state-run Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics (IERiGZ) has estimated that, after increasing to some 41.4kg per capita in 2015, up a robust 2.3kg year-on-year, Poland’s pork consumption decreased to about 41kg per capita last year, down 0.7% compared with 2015. Despite this, pork meat remains the most popular type of meat in the Polish market, preceding poultry meat and beef.
Set up in 1990, the Polish meat processor was established by local businessman Henryk Kania who currently serves as the president of the company’s supervisory board.
