The Belaya Dacha group of companies suspended the work of the French fries factory in Lipetsk due to falling demand for products. This was told by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC Belaya Dacha Viktor Semenov in a live broadcast of the RBC Quarantined Business project on Instagram.
Semenov explained that the closure of cafes and restaurants led to a sharp drop in demand for french fries - up to 90% of the usual volume, and revenue from catering fell by 60%. The company managed to fully maintain its position only in retail.
The plant closed for 5 months, of which two - July and August - were initially allotted for the planned technological “vacation”. In this situation, "three more have been added to these two months."
Note that the temporary closure of the enterprise will not lead to a shortage of french fries in the market. According to Viktor Semenov, the warehouses of Belaya Dacha still have reserves - more than 20 thousand tons of finished potatoes.
Currently, Viktor Semenov considers the sale of raw materials (potatoes grown by agricultural enterprises by order of the enterprise) to be the most important task. He noted that now the company, together with farmers, are making every effort to sell potatoes: “We hope that the dollar will increase, that young potatoes will not flood the market as much as usual. If we don’t sell it, we will be forced to buy products from farmers. ”
The entrepreneur emphasized that he hoped that by August 1 the market would come to life, but on the whole he described the situation as very serious: "We have never experienced this, and I am sure that many will not survive."