As part of the project, the company will build a new slaughterhouse, meat cutting plant, as well as cold storage and freezing facilities for its products. The new facilities will be fitted with a total surface of 12,000sq m, allowing the company to double its existing floorspace, according to the information obtained by local business news site Terenyinwestycyjne.info.
Capacities to expand
The investment is expected to increase Lech Drób’s production capacity by as much as 60%, ensuring a slaughtering capacity of about 220 tonnes (t) per day. The company specialises in chickens and turkeys.
Under the plan, the project will be performed in the Iława subzone of the Warmia-Masuria special economic zone (WMSEZ). By carrying out its investment in the zone, Lech Drób will benefit from preferential tax treatment for its new facilities until at least 2026, when the country’s 16 special economic zones are scheduled to cease their operations. This said, senior Polish government officials have said the zones will most likely extend their operations beyond this date. In return for tax cuts, the meat company will be required to maintain an agreed number of employees.
In addition to Lech Drób, other meat industry players that operate facilities in the north-eastern zone include two Polish poultry meat processors, Cedrob and Indykpol.
Meat industry on the rise
Earlier this year, Indykpol obtained permission to invest at least PLN105m (€25m) and create at least 105 new jobs at its facilities in the zone. The company aims to raise the meat processing capacity of its facility in Olsztyn by some 74%, increase the quality of its products, expand its slaughterhouse and upgrade the facility’s evisceration line.
Cedrob owns facilities in the Ciechanów subzone of the WMSEZ. To date, the meat processor has invested more than PLN316m (€75.2m) in the zone, where its facilities are operated by a total workforce of 517 employees.
Set up in 1995 and based in Zalewo, Lech Drób operates facilities with a total surface of some 6,000sq m. Lech Drób’s cold storage facility is fitted with a freezing capacity of 200t per day, according to data from the company. The meat business employs a workforce of 500.
Lech Drób said its logistics capacities are ensured by a fleet of 20 commercial vehicles. In addition to the domestic market, the Polish company exports its products to other European Union member states, as well as various countries in Asia and Africa. These include China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Angola, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Guinea, according to data from Lech Drób.
The company said it has obtained licences to export to 50 countries worldwide, which indicates Lech Drób could expand to new foreign markets as a result of the forthcoming investment.