The Zolotoy Petushok awakens our appetite
— 2005-02-22 —

The 12^th Moscow International Fair PRODEXPO’2005 recently concluded. Producers from Kaliningrad were among the exhibitors at the fair.

From February 14 through 18, thousands of Muscovites visited the PRODEXPO’2005 at Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya. Its seventeen magnificent pavilions hosted the exhibits of more than three and a half thousand companies, enterprises and factories producing every type of food you can imagine. Though the sea of meat, vegetable and fish foods, fruits, wines and beverages could sweep anybody along into its depths, the exhibit of Produkty Pitania, a company with its own factory in Kaliningrad, attracted many visitors, reporters, and business people. Popular with consumers from Kaliningrad and throughout Russia to Sakhalin, the Company’s brands Zolotoy Petushok and Domashnaya Skazka inspire real confidence in the Russian market of frozen ready-to-cook foods made of chicken and other types of food staples, such as vegetables. It took Aleksandr Gorlov, one of Moscow’s favorite chefs, just a few minutes to cook (on the electric stove installed right there, at the Company’s exhibit!) wonderful dishes Producty Pitania dishes, which were sampled by visitors with great delight.

- “In my case, I always buy foodstuffs if they are marked with the Zolotoy Petushok. They awake quite a special appetite”, smiles Bozhidar Kovachevich, Croatia’s Ambassador in Russia. “I have been to the factory in Kaliningrad. Together with Governor Vladimir Egorov, I inspected the shops and understood that the equipment and technology used at this factory are really most up-to-date.”

We have tasted the frozen meals produced by this Russian - Croatian Company and we can now confirm that its advertisements are not misleading. Everything has been simply delicious.

- “The Company’s growth policy for 2005 implies further expansion of production and promotion of its principal brand, the Zolotoy Petushok. Expansion of our Company is divisible into two phases”, said Stefano Vlakhovich, President of the Company, to the news-writer of the Kaliningradskaya Pravda. “In the first phase, we sought to construct a food processing complex and create technological capabilities which would be unparalleled in Russia. The second phase, which was commenced in early 2005, consists of making the Zolotoy Petushok the most called-for of all the brands in Russia and ex-USSR countries”.

The large expansion of the Company’s production capacities between 2000 and 2004 was conditioned by the stable growth of the Russian market of ready-to-cook frozen meat foods.  In 2004, the Company’s production increased by 32% over 2003. In the last three years, the growth in sales of produced foods has been stably exceeding the growth of the market of ready-to-cook frozen products, thus increasing the Company’s market share.After the fourth factory is put in to production in the fall of 2005, the increased production facilities of the Company will allow production of about 600 tons of product a day. With this in mind, the production modules are designed to minimize the future costs of diversification of production and sophistication of formulation.

“In 2005, the growth rate of the market of frozen ready-to-cook goods will slow down,” comments on the situation Stefano Vlakhovich. “The sales growth will be conditioned by the expansion of production of high VAT and consumption value foods (including vegetable and vegetarian dishes) and by powerful intervention into the regions. In this manner, our priorities for the year 2005 consist of starting up of the fourth shop, strengthening our market standing through expansion of distribution, promoting the Zolotoy Petushok brand, and boosting our marketing and branding”.

In 2004, some of the Company’s sectors were reorganized to optimize and adjust business processes to the new strategic objectives. As a result of the reorganization of the Marketing Division, the departments of strategic, corporate, and trade marketing became independent Company’s divisions.  The tasks of these divisions include strategic planning, promotion of trade marks, and strengthening of the market power of the Zolotoy Petushok trade mark – the key brand of the Company.

Since the development of new products is important to the Company’s strategy, we raised the effectiveness of our R&D Division by improving the in-house system and raising product development standards.

In 2004, the Company launched 11 new products in various categories: chicken-based and vegetable ready-to-cook goods, ready-to-serve dinners and hot snacks. As this took place, the Zolotoy Petushok became a strategic trade mark of paramount importance for the brand portfolio of the Company.

“During 2004, the share of products branded as the Zolotoy Petushok amounted to 90% of the total sales of branded products, which signifies the strategic importance of this trade mark in the  brand portfolio of the Company,” comments Tea Grgurich, the Company’s Marketing Vice President. “Furthermore, the marketing research evidences that, to our consumers, the Zolotoy Petushok signifies not only poultry meat but also the high quality of foods. Thus the quality of the trade mark recognized by consumers and the recognizability of the brand became the factors which made it possible for the Company to combine a few groups of products under a single trade mark, the Zolotoy Petushok.”

The strategic branding program consists not only in the intensification of direct field selling but also in the implementation of full-fledged sales-promotion programs, the arrangement of PR events, and execution of other measures for trade mark promotion that are capable of increasing the loyalty of consumers and partners.

“In the market sector of frozen ready-to-cook foods, as in any other market sector, the marketing support which promotes consumer’s loyalty is integral to market relations,” says Tea Grgurich. “We are sure that our up-to-date positioning tactics and our new active promotion strategy will result in the Zolotoy Petushok becoming a nationwide brand.”