Romanian business increases capacity amid strong sales

Recently, Fox invested some €1m with the aim of installing a new automated cutting line at the company’s plant in a south-eastern district of Bucharest.

Sales on a growth path​

“For 2018, we expect to increase our production by between 5% and 7% compared with [2017]. In terms of revenues, growth could reach up to 10%, depending on raw material prices,​” Iulian Marinica, general manager of Fox, told local business daily Ziarul Financiar.

The Romanian meat business specialises in processing pork meat, but Fox also has poultry meat products in its portfolio. The company’s product range includes hams, sausages, salami, cold cuts and a number of other processed meat products.

Marinica said that last year produced “very good results, and it was even an exceptional year [as] Fox managed to report the best sales dynamics among the top three [Romanian] sausage producers, according to the latest market research report​” by local company Vektor Marktforschung SRL.

Brand awareness efforts​

Fox’s general manager said other plans by the company included intensifying its marketing efforts in order to boost Fox’s brand awareness, as well as expanding to new distribution channels that the company “has not explored to date​”. These include the HoReCa (hotel, restaurant and café) segment and online sales, according to Marinica.

In 2018, Fox is also aiming to improve the quality of its products, the general manager said.

In addition to the domestic market, where the company’s offer is available at more than 10,000 retail outlets countrywide, Fox said it exports its products to various foreign markets. The majority of the firm’s exports are destined for other European Union member states. These include the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece and Cyprus, according to data released by Fox. Currently, exports represent about 5% of the firm’s total sales. Fox said its logistics capacities were ensured by the company’s fleet of commercial vehicles.

Set up in 1992, the Romanian group is based in the country’s capital Bucharest where it also operates a meat processing plant. Fox is controlled by the Vulpe family, and comprises two subsidiaries, Fox Com Serv and Fox Com Serv Distribution, which are responsible for meat processing and distribution activities, respectively.

In 2009, Fox launched a development programme to raise its capacities and, to date, the company has invested about €20m to upgrade and expand its facilities in Romania, according to figures from the meat business.

Fox said its facilities, which include seven distribution centres, are operated by a workforce of about 1,000 employees. The meat processor is ISO 9001- and HACCP-certified.