October 27,  2020

 

Cherkizovo expects further growth in pork and sausage exports

 

 

Cherkizovo Group is focusing on exports and further digitalisation, the company's experts said at the Russian Meat & Feed Industry conference held by Agroinvestor Magazine.

 

In 2020, Russia has been ramping up exports of meat products, including not poultry, pork and sausages. Cherkizovo Group follows the trend by increasing exports of these meat product categories, according to Andrei Terekhin, head of industry unions and government relations at Cherkizovo Trade House.

 

"This year, we see a sharp increase in sausage exports: in volume terms, the growth exceeded 30%. We hope this trend will continue into the next year. Cherkizovo plans to boost sausage exports, primarily to the FSU countries, where our products enjoy strong demand, as well as to other markets. In the future, the company expects to tap into the Chinese market once it is opened for processed meat products," said Terekhin.

 

According to him, 2020 saw a leap in Russia' pork sales. Going forward, the meat may become a growth driver for Russian producers, primarily in view of the opening of the Vietnamese market.

 

Rustam Khafizov, head of Cherkizovo Group's analysis center, also took the floor to share the company's digitalisation plans. He said that, in 2018, Cherkizovo Group launched a fully automated plant in Kashira, which remains one of a kind in Russia.

 

"What makes this plant so unique is that the entire production process – from the moment raw materials enter the facility to the shipment of finished products – is [automated]. The current coronavirus situation is a testament to how valuable this asset is as the industry faces problems due to the pandemic," said Khafizov.

 

He emphasised that further digitalisation and innovative development are among Cherkizovo's priorities.

 

Currently, Cherkizovo is running a number of in-house projects on machine vision, automation, data collection and analysis.

 

Leveraging new solutions, the company has embarked on equipping its plants with an individual productivity measurement system to monitor employee performance in real time. This move has boosted labor productivity at enterprises by 15%.

 

Today, it is of utmost importance for agricultural companies to collaborate on solutions for improving labor mobility and building up a talent pool, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how sensitive the industry is, said Khafizov.

 

- Cherkizovo