Romanian meat company eyes higher sales and franchise network

The expansion will be enabled by last year’s investment which expanded the company’s meat processing capacity by 20%.

In 2016, the company invested about €700,000 to launch a facility enabled to process an additional 28 tonnes (t) of meat per week. Carmangeria Sannicoara is currently recruiting new employees for its operations, and, due to the workforce shortage, it allocates scholarships to Romanian professional school pupils to encourage them to pursue their careers with the the company, according to its representatives.

Retail network to grow​

As part of its market expansion plans, Carmangeria Sannicoara is also aiming to develop its retail network and recruit franchise owners.

“We have our own network of 30 stores,”​ Cosmin Moldovan, the company’s director general, told local business daily Ziarul Financiar​. “We don’t want to increase the number of our stores, but we want to expand by licencing franchises starting next year. We are currently working on this.”​

Carmangeria Sannicoara estimates that as much as 80% to 85% of its output is distributed through its own retail chain, while the remaining share of its products is sold through the HoReCa channel. The firm’s stores are located in Cluj-Napoca, the second largest city in Romania, and neighbouring municipalities in the country’s northern part.

Cooperation with major retailer

Moldovan said that while the meat company does not sell its products in supermarkets, it cooperates with the Romania-based retailer Mega Image, owned by the Dutch Ahold Delhaize group, by locating some of its stores at the chain’s supermarkets.

Carmangeria Sannicoara is another Romanian meat company that expanded its meat processing capacities in anticipation of a higher domestic demand for its products. In 2015, the country’s government decided to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) for meat from 24% to 9%, and local meat industry players expect the move to have a positive long-term impact on Romania’s meat consumption.

On average, Romanians consume about 29kg of pork meat per capita annually which makes this type of meat the country’s most popular, preceded by poultry meat, with an average consumption of 20.1kg per capita, according to figures from the country’s National Institute of Statistics (INSSE).

Carmangeria Sannicoara’s portfolio consists of some 160 processed pork, poultry and beef products. These include sausages, frankfurters, hamburgers, hams, salamis, smoked meat products and others, according to data from the firm. In addition to its meat processing activities, Carmangeria Sannicoara operates a cattle farm with 270 head, up 17% compared with 2016.

Established in 1994, the company was founded by local businessman Stefan Moldovan and his son Cosmin. In the years 2007 to 2008, the manufacturer says it completely overhauled and upgraded its facilities with the use of funds from the EU’s Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD).