Last year, the company lost market leadership to competitor Transavia, due to Agricola starting a modernization process, which included a four-month operations halt. Furthermore, Transavia invested €17 million in a new poultry processing factory, which increased its production capacity.
Meanwhile, Agricola plans to expand its store networks countrywide, from the current 30 units. “We are focusing on smaller areas, close to food markets, where we can sell fresh products at producer prices,” Horoi said.
The company plans to increase market share this year on the cold meats segment. “It is difficult to become a significant player. We have some 1 percent of the market, and even so we are among the top 12 players on this segment. We have a distribution network countrywide, and plan to have a special feature, cold poultry meats, to become a niche producer,” he added.
Agricola estimates some €61.4 million worth of business this year, 6 percent lower than in 2008, due to outsourcing of certain operations.
