Ukraine’s biggest poultry producer to launch 250 meat stores

The Ukrainian poultry giant MHP plans to add 250 meat stores to the new Myasomarket chain in Kyiv to directly reach out to consumers. Photo: Joris Telders

Ukraine’s biggest poultry producer MHP plans to launch 250 meat stores of the new Myasomarket chain in Kyiv by 2025.

The plan is to directly reach out to consumers on the domestic market in a new way, Dmitry Morozov, director of the MHP’s franchise department told local press.

…the convenience store format is something that has long been a reality in the developed world, but not in Ukraine.”

The company is already involved in 1700 stores in the Nasha Ryaba retail chain. MHP is also launching a fast-food chain, with the test store operational since July of 2020, Morozov said. And the company is looking across borders as well, and has plans to develop similar projects in other countries, Morozov added.

The Myasomarket chain is a brand new format for the Ukraine market. “We have analysed where modern retail is heading and what the consumer preferences are. What is comfortable for them, what attracts the consumer and what repels them. And as a result, we discovered an interesting thing – the convenience store format is something that has long been a reality in the developed world, but not in Ukraine,” said Sergey Ivanov, deputy head of the MHP board for commerce. “In simple terms, we offer a wide range of meat and meat products, including ready-made. This will attract the growing group of consumers who do not want to spend a lot of time in supermarkets and the kitchen,” he added.

MHP eyes foreign expansion
MHP is looking at Saudi Arabia for acquisitions and joint venture projects to further develop its poultry and meat-processing business, Anastasiya Sobotyuk Director of Investor Relations at MHP talks to Poultry World.

Focus on the domestic market

The strong demand on the domestic market supported the company’s operational performance amid the coronavirus pandemic. Internationally MHP suffered; In the second quarter, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine measures resulted in significant market disruption, with a sharp decrease in demand for breast fillet in EU and MENA markets, MHP said in a statement on September 4. Total export volume was down 9%, but MHP was able to offset part of this loss by increased demand for poultry in the Ukrainian domestic market. However, price levels in both domestic and export markets were down as well. The average chicken meat price decreased by 16% year-on-year to $ 1.27 per kg, the company estimated.