The firm, which is the largest vertically integrated holding of the Russian oil and fat market, announced its operating results for 2012 today: revealing an overall growth of 4.5% in specialty fats and other margarines over last year.
“The company showed growth in our core markets: specialty fats, mayonnaise, and premium sunflower oil,” said Evgeny Lyashenko, CEO of EFKO.
Indeed, double-digit growth was evident many core areas of the business with mayonnaise showing a 27.5% jump in sales compared to 2011 – with sales up from 99,553 tonnes to 126,925 tonnes.
The Russian group also saw strong growth in cocoa butter substitutes (a 10.3% growth), bottled vegetable oils (10.4% growth) and industrial margarines (a 14.4% increase).
Lyashenko added that the Group will focus on strengthening its positioning in the cocoa butter substitutes market in the coming year while also focusing on increasing exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) such as Armenia, Belarus and Uzbekistan.
However, EFKO saw a drop in sales for other ‘supplementary’ markets, such as sugar-based products and prepared foods and drinks for the hotel, restaurant and catering industries (HoReCa).
“In spite of the recent slowdown of growth in the supplementary markets … we are confident that these segments will eventually recover,” said Lyashenko.