Produkty Pitania signs an investment agreement to begin construction on a new frozen foods plant
— 2006-02-26 —

Kaliningrad, February 26, 2006.  Produkty Pitania, Russia’s major manufacturer of frozen convenience foods, signed a $200 million investment agreement to build a new plant in Gusev, located in the Kaliningrad region.

With both the Russian minister of Agriculture, Aleksei Gordeev, and Kaliningrad’s Governor, Georguy Boos, present, Produkty Pitania’s President, Stefano Vlahovic, and the Head of the Gusevo City District, Nikolai Tsukanov, signed the agreement - which seals the deal for the new 110,000 square meter plant.  The company estimates that this new facility will produce up to 600 tons of vegetable, meat, and dough-based food products a day.

Produkty Pitania hopes that by developing new products and expanding manufacturing capacity, it can meet the growing market demand for Russian convenience foods, while also reflecting changing consumer attitudes.  As Vlahovic put it “These days, Russian families are looking for foods that are both healthy and easy to prepare. So this new project is simply a continuation of our company’s strategic development plan for winning over consumer dinner tables.”

He went on to say that “from the very beginning, we have directed our efforts toward becoming the Russian frozen foods market leader, which includes producing traditional dough-based products. Further product diversification will ensure an even better market position for our company.”
 

Produkty Pitania plans to build a comprehensive production facility in Gusev, with the latest in storage technologies, as well as state-of-the-art railroad and treatment facilities, in accordance with international standards. The company will begin construction during the latter half of 2006, with an operations plan that will bring the plant up in three phases.  What’s more, the new facility will more than double the company’s total production floor space, and employ around 3,000 people to launch a frozen foods line that includes such new products as pizza, lasagna, puff pastry products (croissants and pastries with a variety of fillings), pancakes and pelmenis.  In addition, Produkty Pitania will produce ready-to-eat meals, as well as vegetable and meat convenience foods in its new facility under its Zolotoy Petushok trademark.

Russian Minister of Agriculture Aleksei Gordeev is fully behind the new construction project, having said that “it fully meets the objectives of the government’s three-year program to build modern facilities for processing raw agricultural products raised right here in Russia. I believe that investments like this one will determine the future of Gusev and the Kaliningrad region as a whole.”

The Minister also stated that such production facilities help boost the production of grains, potatoes, and cattle-breeding products, while creating more jobs, better working conditions, and higher salaries in rural areas.

Kaliningrad’s Governor Georguy Boos echoed the Minister’s sentiments when he said that “the new Produkty Pitania construction project is particularly significant. This local company came to Kaliningrad many years ago and trusted us enough to invest a great deal of capital here.  And from what I have been told, it was a highly successful move.”