Produkty Pitania: recipe for success
— 2005-07-25 —

Personalities of top managers in any global company is highly important for any business. Stefano Vlahovic, Produkty Pitania Company President talks about the way one of Russia’s and Europe’s largest frozen foods manufactures was organized during its 10 year existing period from the very start.

You are a Croat. You studied in the US and you worked in Italy for many years. Why was it Russia that you chose as a location for building your business? He states, ”Russia’s rapid economic growth potential has always been an attraction for me. I started my business here in 1994 importing chicken legs but soon, I realized that owning a local production facility to deliver frozen convenience foods was worthwhile. As financial crisis struck the country in 1998 many people believed it impossible to set up a business from the very start and people called our investments as those of high risk. However, based on our knowledge of international foods market development laws and our capabilities we risked investing the first $10 million to build our first plant in Kaliningrad region. The investments returned and brought large profit. In 2004 we produced 88,400 tons of products 25% of them sold in Moscow and the remaining 75% marketed in other regions of Russia.”

What were the major problems you faced at the initial step of developing your enterprise? Mr. Vlahovic replies, “I am sure that success of any facility is largely determined by the managerial team. The major problem we faced in the regions was lack of sufficiently qualified personnel and it was so even in Kaliningrad. Companies that operated in Kaliningrad made no investments in human resources and preferred employing foreign professionals. On the opposite we decided to build a team of local professionals that would be personally motivated to deliver high quality results. People who work at our facility are at the same time working for prosperity of their region because Produkty Pitania Company is one of the major investors in Kaliningrad region and it makes a significant contribution in developing processing industries both in Kaliningrad and across Russia.”

What are the principles the company implements in human resources management as it evolves?

“The high-tech equipment installed at our facilities dictates that every new employee must take a special training course that focuses on specific guidelines at our facility. However we strongly focus on the personal potential of applicants when selecting new people, because we are convinced new employees can master necessary skills and professionalism within our company. Today we deliver a variety of 45 product names and every new product we offer is a synergy of international experience and our knowledge of the Russian market. From time to time we attract foreign experts to help us deliver new products. For instance as we developed lasagna under Zolotoy Petushok brand and launched its production we invited an Italian technology expert to help preserve the traditional homemade taste of the product through a range of processing stages.” 

Are you an authoritarian or a democratic manager?   

“I can see advantages in both styles of management because I went up the career ladder and I understand the problems of either our regular staff or top managers evenly well. A large company has to both select personnel and then help every single employee make his or her own contribution to the common goal because every single employee is responsible for the final result we achieve together. We are committed to promoting careers of the most goal-and result-oriented staff. I am sure that investing in people is just as important as investing in tangible assets of the company. Our business is firmly grounded on efforts of the single team of associates. It is the people that drive creativity of the company and always keep us one step ahead of the rest of the market.”