We heated up frozen foods market
— 2005-06-27 —
Ten years ago frozen convenience foods were perceived as low quality meals, and their supply was scarce. Nowdays, things are different because consumption of convenience foods is considered to be an indicator of popular welfare. Stefano Vlahovic, Produkty PItania Company President speaks about convenience foods and the Russian middle class.
“High quality of products determines demand growth. Chock-freezing method does not change any qualitative properties of food and modern manufacturers are thus capable of providing a broad choice of courses retaining homemade taste of food.
The Russian frozen convenience food market has tremendous potential. Back in 1998 we were building a powerful production basis at our company because we realized the market would grow soon. Projecting this, we increased our capacity so that we could met that future demand while minimizing costs. Poultry is the basic element of our products and of our key brand Zolotoy Petushok, which reflects this idea and proved that we were correct in forecasting that chicken meat would grow to be even more popular in Russia. Our company has also launched production of convenience vegetables, ready-made meals and hot snacks. Nowadays, we offer 45 different product categories designed to address the changing preferences of Russian consumers and our total production capacity of 350 tons a day.
As the social and economic climate improves in Russia, the middle class keeps on emerging with the views that price matters less than service and quality. The Russian middle class are ready to pay more for products packed in solid package rather than buying weighted products at a market, and product quality is guaranteed through reliable trademarks. That is why since 2000 our Zolotoy Petushok enhanced its presence in supermarkets and grocery stores and our major investments were in broadening product range and quality management. We are planning to actively promote our strategic Zolotoy Petushok brand as competitive pressure rises and sales volume increases after our 4th production facility is put to operation.
We have a network of our own modern storage facilities in Kaliningrad, Krasnodar Territory, and Staraya Kupavna that helps us maintain the high products quality and receive efficient feedback from sales locations.
As for new market niches for our company, we are already cooperation with such popular networks as Rostiks, Kroshka Kartoshka, and with Aeroflot’s catering services.
Also, we are pioneering in production of convenience foods using complex recipes and we are sure that the number of our partners will increase in the next several years to allow customers to enjoy guaranteed high quality of our products both at home and in public catering outlets.
Svetlana Vasilieva