We often talk about the underdeveloped potato processing sector in Russia. Indeed, it is difficult to call a significant share of 15% of the total volume grown in the country (this is exactly how much statistics allocates to the sector). Nevertheless, the market situation is gradually changing, the role of enterprises for the production of cereals, chips, french fries, peeled evacuated potatoes, etc. is becoming more visible. New factories are opening, and the next lines are already launched. And this movement forward allows us to hope that the potato industry in our country has a successful future.
FRITO LAY MANUFACTURING (PEPSICO DIVISION)
Russia's largest industrial potato processor: annually the company acquires about 360 thousand tons of raw materials
All the potatoes that the company uses to make chips are grown in Russia. Recall: the first Russian chips potato for processing into Lay's chips was grown in 2002 in the amount of 4 tons in the Moscow region.
The company buys special varieties - with a reduced sugar content and a high starch content. At the moment, the production line includes modern varieties that stand out for excellent taste, but are quite complex in production, requiring a high level of agricultural technology.
More than 50 producers supply raw materials, about 10 farms produce seed potatoes by order of the company. Most of these companies have been cooperating with Frito Lei Managing for more than five years.
All suppliers of raw materials and seeds are participants in the program "Leaders of the agro-industry", launched by the company in 1996. The program is aimed at improving the quality and productivity of potatoes.
As part of the program, farmers are provided with high-quality planting material and harvesting equipment. The program also provides for investments in the equipment of vegetable stores with a climate control system. Farms are advanced for the purchase of fertilizers and plant protection products, receive ongoing assistance and expert advice, and participate in workshops on the exchange of experience.
Thanks to participation in the agricultural program, PepsiCo partners were able to significantly increase the average yield of potatoes (30 and more tons / ha - taking into account the fact that chip varieties are not distinguished by high yields).
FACTORY IN KASHIR
Launched in September 2002
It processes more than 210 thousand tons of specialty potatoes a year, produces more than 100 thousand tons of finished products (more than 200 items). At the moment, the company has eight production lines, innovative projects on resource saving and energy efficiency are being implemented. The company is the largest industrial consumer of potatoes in the Central Federal District. A third of the required raw materials are purchased from suppliers from the Moscow region.
FACTORY IN AZOV
He became the first “green” PepsiCo plant in Russia, built according to strict environmental requirements and received a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certificate. In 2017, a complex of treatment facilities was launched at the plant; in August 2019, a new line for the production of snacks was opened.
Now the company has five lines: two for the production of potato chips, two for the production of crackers and one line of corn snacks Cheetos. Raw materials and ingredients are grown by enterprises in the south of Russia, the plant cooperates with 26 farms that supply potatoes for chips and flour for the production of crackers.
DESIGN OF THE FACTORY IN NOVOSIBIRSK
The possibility of building a PepsiCo plant in the Novosibirsk region has been considered by the company for several years
Opening an enterprise in this region should increase the efficiency of the company's logistics: shipping products from the center of the country to Siberia, the Far East and Kazakhstan is quite expensive. Once again, the company returned to this issue in February 2019: at the investment forum in Sochi, PepsiCo president in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia Neil Starrock, governor of the Novosibirsk region Andrei Travnikov and general director of the Agency for Investment Development of the Novosibirsk region Alexander Zyryanov signed an agreement on the construction of a snack factory in Novosibirsk.
The new enterprise will produce chips and crackers under the brands Lay's, Cheetos and KhrusTeam. The estimated capacity of the enterprise will be about 50 thousand tons of finished products per year. Investments in the project are estimated at RUB 12 billion. The launch of the plant is scheduled for 2021.
The company plans to purchase raw materials for the production of chips from local agricultural producers and will help them establish the production of high-quality chips potato. A special agricultural program will be launched in the region, the participants of which will receive seed material, the necessary financial support, and will be trained to work with new varieties. The cost of the agricultural program has not yet been announced, it is only known that these will be additional investments to the already announced 12 billion rubles.
At the moment, the first steps to prepare the raw material site are already being taken. So, in five districts of the Kemerovo region (bordering Novosibirsk) in 2019 experimental plots of one hectare in size were allocated, on which potato chips were grown.
LEM WESTON WHITE COTTAGE French fries factory
Launched in April 2018. It is a joint venture of Belaya Dacha JSC and Lamb Weston Maijer. The project is being implemented on the territory of the Lipetsk special economic zone. Project budget: more than 120 million euros.
The planned capacity of the first stage is 16 tons per hour (or 100 thousand tons of finished products per year with a processing volume of about 200 thousand tons of raw materials). The plant plans to build the second stage and does not exclude the appearance of the third.
Part (about 30%) of the plant’s demand for raw materials is provided by its own raw material base in the Tambov region. It also built its own potato storage for 7500 tons, with an automated process for managing production and monitoring all the required parameters. The remaining volume of raw materials (potato varieties Innovator, Challenger) is grown by farmers with whom long-term supply contracts are concluded.
Only high quality raw materials are supplied to the plant. In many ways, this is the merit of the farm school, organized by JSC "Belaya Dacha" long before the launch of the enterprise. During her work, the school teachers - experienced agronomists of the enterprise - helped potato growers from 16 regions of the country to master advanced production technologies, which made it possible to increase the yield to 500 c / ha. Farmers have learned to grow tubers of a certain size, a certain shape, containing a strictly specified amount of dry matter; mastered the technology of storing potato chips.
The first consumer of the plant’s products was the McDonald's restaurant chain. The plant also supplies its products to other catering establishments and retail chains throughout the country. The LEM Weston Belaya Dacha plant considers it its task to fully cover the need for french fries in Russia, as well as to arrange product deliveries abroad. It is worth noting that significant steps in this direction have already been taken: by the beginning of 2019, according to statistics, the volume of imports of french fries in the Russian Federation has decreased by almost half, and the export of Russian french fries has grown almost six times.
"MAXIM GORKY PLUS"
Plant for the production of potato flakes.
Opened in 2011
Today it occupies a leading position in Russia in its direction. Every month, 100 tons of packaged products enter the market. 40% of the total production is exported.
In 2019, the company announced plans to build a second plant for the production of potato flakes - in the Novozybkovsky district of the Bryansk region. The production volume of the future enterprise will reach 120 thousand tons per year. The volume of investments in the project has not yet been announced.
CRIMM
Tyumen agrofirm is one of the leaders in Russia in the production of table and seed potatoes
The opening of a processing plant is a new direction in the company's development.
The plant specializes in producing pasteurized half-cooked potatoes with natural additives and fresh peeled fresh cut potatoes. Opened in September 2019.
The plant was built in record time: less than three years. The cost of the investment project amounted to about one billion two hundred million rubles. The maximum capacity of the plant is processing 30 thousand tons of raw materials and producing 15 tons of finished products per year.
The goods are sold through retailers and are also delivered to the HoReCa and B2B sectors, and not only to the Urals Federal District.
In October 2019, the products of the KRiMM plant won first place in the nomination “Best Eco-Product for Restaurants” at the PIR EXPO exhibition in Moscow. After that, metropolitan catering enterprises declared their interest in purchasing Tyumen potatoes.
PROVENCE GROUP
This Tyumen enterprise has not only a “potato” profile. The plant produces washed, peeled, chopped vegetables and root vegetables: carrots, beets, potatoes, cabbage and others. The product range also includes leaf salads (ruccola, corn, iceberg, chard, romano) and mixtures of chopped vegetables, herbs and salads.
The project has been implemented since 2018; in August 2019, the facility was commissioned.
The official opening took place on November 5, 2019. The volume of investments amounted to 220 million rubles. The total area of the production complex exceeded 3,4 thousand square meters. meters. The plant will employ 80 people.
The products are intended for sale in retail chains, cafes, restaurants, food processing plants and other facilities. Deliveries are made to Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Tomsk and Sochi.
In the future, the plant plans to expand its assortment and increase production volumes.
Potential processing projects for potatoes should be considered separately, they are often written about in the press, and agricultural producers have their hopes for them.
MIRATORG
According to BEFL as of May 2019, the holding ranks first among agricultural land owners in the Russian Federation, managing about 1 million hectares. One of the largest Russian producers of beef, pork and poultry.
Potentially, the company may become one of the largest producers of vegetables and potatoes, as well as open a processing industry.
In February 2019, the holding announced an investment of 6,4 billion rubles. in the production of 100 thousand tons of potatoes, cabbage, carrots, etc. on 3 thousand hectares of irrigated land in the Tula region, as well as in the construction of facilities for storage and processing of products. The holding plans to open a high-tech vegetable processing plant that will work for the needs of retail and catering establishments. Initially, the company will be engaged in pre-sale preparation and packaging of vegetables and potatoes, but Miratorg does not exclude the possibility of reaching a deeper level of processing and launching its own production of chips or french fries.
MCCAIN
The Canadian company is one of the world's largest producers of frozen potato products, the world leader in the production of frozen French fries (produces 1/3 of all French fries in the world)
The company plans to return to discussing this issue in a year. In addition, in September 2019, the company announced plans to create a large-scale production of vegetables and potatoes with a capacity of 300 tons per year in the Stavropol Territory.
It should also be noted that Miratog already has an enterprise for the production of frozen vegetables and berries (products under the Vitamin brand) in the Moscow Region, the raw materials for which were previously purchased from third-party manufacturers and 50% abroad.
By 2017, the company had 47 production facilities on six continents. The office in Russia has been operating since 1999.
For many years, the company has been considering the possibility of building a potato processing plant in our country. So, in 2004, the plans of the corporation to build an enterprise in the Vladimir or Voronezh regions were actively discussed in the press. The design capacity of the plant was to be 40-50 thousand tons of potatoes per year. The project cost was estimated at $ 100 million. In 2005, the company's interests shifted to the Tyumen region, but the project was never implemented.
In 2019, McCain returned to the consideration of this issue - together with PJSC Cherkizovo Group. And the place for the enterprise has already been chosen in the Oryol and Bryansk regions.
Unfortunately, the editors of the magazine could not obtain more detailed information about the development of this project in the press services of McCain and PJSC Cherkizovo Group.