The new facility was fitted with a floorspace of about 8,000sq m, enabling QFG to raise its output capacity to some 5,000 tonnes (t) of various products per month. As part of the investment in Pionki, the company created 200 new jobs at the meat processing plant.
Meat processing capacity expanded
“This investment is our response to the increasing market demand for our products,” Jarosław Krzyżanowski, chief executive and founder of QFG, told local news site Portalspozywczy.pl. “Our production capacities were no longer sufficient to match this demand, so the company’s development is natural, but it is also inevitable.”
The company is also mulling over further investments in developing its meat processing capacities in Poland, according to its chief executive.
“Our plans reach far beyond this,” Krzyżanowski said. “Currently, QFG is developing at a pace that exceeds any other phase in its history.”
Earlier this year, US private equity firm Highlander Partners purchased a 60% stake in the meat industry player. The capital increase was to allow QFG to expand its production capacities, introduce innovative technologies to its meat processing activities, and finance the construction of the company’s second facility in Pionki, Highlander Partners said in a statement. QFG’s founder retained 40% of the shares in the company.
The firm’s product portfolio includes a wide range of processed meat products made using poultry, pork, beef and mutton. These comprise wrapped medallions, steaks, wings, pockets, burgers, strips and many others. QFG’s customer base consists of retail re-sellers, the hotel, restaurant and café segment, as well as retail customers in Poland. The domestic market represents 20% of the company’s total sales, while other European markets are responsible for 80% of its sales, according to data from QFG. The meat processor said its facilities are BRC-, IFS- and HACCP-certified.
Sales to rise
With the latest expansion of its output capacity, QFG is aiming to post improved financial results this year. In 2015, the meat industry player reported sales of about PLN117 million (€27m), and this year, QFG eyes sales of as much as PLN200m (€46m). This would represent a robust increase of over 71% compared with a year earlier.
Set up in 2000 and headquartered in Radom, in Poland’s central region, QFG already operates two meat processing facilities in Białobrzegi and Pionki. The plants are fitted with a total floorspace of 13,000sq m. Currently, QFG is operated by a total workforce of close to 800 employees, according to data from the company.
Established in 2004, Highlander Partners says it is a middle-market private equity firm investing in North America and Central Europe, with focus on the US and Polish market and companies.
Pionki is located less than 100km from the country’s capital Warsaw.