Polish businesses combine to attack new markets
initiative that combines nine medium-sized food and beverage
companies aiming to export their products to other eastern European
markets. Simon Pitman found out how the integration of
commercial, logistics and marketing efforts is helping the company
to cut export costs by 50 per cent and more.
Breaking into new markets can often cause a problem for small- to medium-sized companies. Often they do not have the resources or the structure in place to market, distribute and sell their products in other markets. But combining all the necessary resources with other similar sized companies is one way of reducing costs and increasing efficiencies in the eternal drive to tap in on new markets.
Outside the Russia, Poland is by far the biggest economy in the region. In recent years food and beverage businesses have been riding a wave of domestic economic growth. As much of the market shows increasing signs of maturation, many businesses are starting to explore less mature markets in eastern Europe in an effort to sustain that growth.
Uno Fresco is one company that is capitalising on that trend. Its initiative aims to drive a range of well-known domestic food brands into markets such as Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria."Our primary focus will be the Ukraine and Russia," said Grzegorz Osóbka, marketing manager for Uno Fresco Tradex. "We will be focusing on these markets because they are young and have plenty of potential for future growth. On top of that many of the products we intend to sell are not found in those countries and because it is a young market consumers are more open to new products."
The company will be exporting a range of products that are familiar in Poland, including mushrooms, biscuits, frozen pizza, dairy products, mustard and ketchup, fruit and nuts as well as spices.
The companies involved with the trading agreement include Prymat, Rolnik, Premium Foods, Uno Fresco Tradex, Kasol, Fanex, Lactima i Fantasy Foods and several other divisions. Currently the companies account for approximately 5 per cent of Uno Fresco's total turnover. However this figure could be as much as 50 per cent if the venture meets with the success the Uno Fresco is anticipating.
By combining all the necessary resources Osóbka believes there are significant savings to be made: "Generally if two medium-sized companies combine there export resources through Uno Fresco we are able to cut costs by approximately 50 per cent. Bring another trading partner into the equation and you can divide the costs by three, and so on. The greater the number of trading partners, the greater the saving."
Uno Fresco says it is first aiming to target the Moscow market, where some 50 million consumers and a large selection of hypermarket chains provide an ample market to tap in on. It is about to set up an office there, represented by a sales team and a logistics centre - the costs of which will be shared among the group. The aim is then to establish a distribution network which will stretch to all of the major hypermarket chains operating in the Moscow region backe by a comprehensive marketing and advertising campaign.
