Russia: Eurodon expands its turkey business

Russian meat producer, Eurodon plans to produce 70,000 tonnes of turkey meat this year, increasing its’ output 32% on a year-to-year comparison versus 47,000 tonnes in 2015.

In a statement, the company also confirmed the expansion of its halal line. Since July, the company produces 10 tonnes of halal turkey per day, compared to 4-5 tonnes previously.

The presence of religious goods in the production range is dictated by the desire to expand consumer choice, according to Eurodon’s director general, Vadim Vaneev. “We focus on the quality of our products and turkey properties, so that it is valuable for people of different ages, gastronomic preferences and national traditions,” he said.

New and improved turkey project

In addition, Vaneev launched the project Eurodon-South in July. This formally separate entity from Eurodon, based in Rostov Oblast, is designed for the production of 150,000 tonnes of turkey meat at 150 poultry houses with an overall area of production complexes of 2,000 ha.

As explained Vaneev, this new facility will have modernised systems of turkey rearing and improved production processes. “We are pleased to state that the turkey-breeding complex Eurodon-South dramatically increases the population and changes poultry breeding technologies. Our 720,000 chicks of the Eurodon-South project that populates the new site not only get more comfortable conditions than at other sites, but also have more precisely calculated care,” he commented.

Unstable economy in Russia

“These poultry houses stood empty for over a year, since it was a difficult period, but we have built a new agricultural facility in spite of unstable economic conditions. We believe in our strategy and are willing to make a new breakthrough. Only through innovation can we achieve increasing our annual production profitability by 5-6%,” he added.

According to Russian experts, increasing the supply of turkey meat on the Russian market within the coming years will most cause the demand to rise. At the moment experts estimate demand for turkey to be 120,000 tonnes. According to the president of consulting firm Agrifood Strategies, by 2020 turkey in Russia may take part of the market share of pork products.

Turkey meat growth potential in Russia

“The main reserves of growth in terms of consumption of turkey meat are in meat processing and food-service”, explains Davleev. According to him by 2020, 25-30% of the domestic turkey meat will be sold in the form of heat-treated products, such as ham, boiled-smoked breast, sausages and other products, while another 10-15% in the form of chilled and frozen semi-finished products and another 10-15% via food-service.

“Such a disposition: a competition against other types of meat in all sectors will enable manufacturers to avoid internal competition in the segment and price wars,” he said, adding that turkey consumption in general will also depend on the situation in other segments of the Russian market.