Romanian poultry producer’s investments to drive higher sales

For 2017, the company is planning to post revenues of some €35 million (m), an increase of 15% compared with a year earlier. Safir is also aiming to raise the share of exports in its revenues, with several European Union member states driving higher export sales this year, according to senior company representatives.

Exports on the rise​

“This year, the share of exports will reach 20% of our revenues,​” George Safir, the firm’s executive director, told local business daily Ziarul Financiar.

According to the official, some of Safir’s key export markets include the Netherlands, Italy and Estonia.

In addition to these three countries, the meat producer also exports its products to Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Bulgaria. Outside the EU, some of the company’s foreign markets include Georgia and Kosovo, according to data from Safir.

In the domestic market, retail chains are responsible for about 40% for the firm’s sales, but Safir aims to keep this ratio below the level of 45%, the company’s executive director said.

Safir’s products are available at a number of Auchan and Kaufland stores throughout the country, as well as the company’s own chain, which currently consists of five stores in Vaslui, in eastern Romania. Furthermore, the meat producer also supplies its products to the US fast food chain KFC. Safir says its logistics capacities are ensured by a fleet of some 100 commercial vehicles.

Last year, the firm reported a production of about 16,500 tonnes (t) of poultry meat, according to figures released by Safir.

New slaughterhouse to triple capacity​

With the aim of facilitating its expansion to various foreign markets, the company has been mulling plans to build a new slaughterhouse in Vaslui under a project estimated to be worth between €25m and €35m. The new slaughterhouse is designed to significantly expand the firm’s current capacity of some 12,000 head per hour. Safir’s existing slaughterhouse is enabled with a capacity of only about 4,000 head per hour.

To finance the project in Vaslui, the company has applied to the Romanian Ministry of Finance to obtain an investment grant of about RON21m (€4.5m) from the state. However, to date, the funds have not been allocated to the investment, which could force the company to search for alternative sources of funding. As part of the project, the meat producer is to create about 470 new jobs at the planned slaughterhouse.

Established in 1991, the company was founded by local entrepreneur Ghiorghi Safir, who remains its majority shareholder and manages Safir together with his two sons, George and Iulian. The meat producer said its existing slaughterhouse is IFC-, BRC- and ISO 9001-, 14001-, 18001- and 22000-certified.