Veres Group is a vertically integrated FMCG business specializing in the production of food products, in particular canned food and sauces.
The Group is comprised of 2 processing and 2 agricultural enterprises, a logistics centre for product storage and a trading house with a Kyiv-based central office. It also includes the largest champignon growing farm in Ukraine. The Group's production facilities annually process up to 25,000 tons of fruit and vegetable products. During a year, the Company employs about 2,400 people, both permanent and seasonal workers.
Products under Veres trademark are supplied to more than 35 countries of the world. The Group's share in the domestic market of Ukraine’s canned fruit and vegetables is 30%. The Group is among the TOP-3 producers of canned vegetables in Ukraine.
Veres Holding Ltd. owns Ukrainian enterprises of the Group, as well as Veres IP Ltd. (Cyprus), a company that manages the trademark and other intellectual property of the business.
The Group of Companies is built on the principles of cluster business division:
- Mushroom growing – VG Farming
- Vegetable growing – VG Agro
- Product canning factories (canneries) — VG Production
- Trading house – VG Trade.
VG Farming
VG Farming was established to manage the mushroom growing business. The company specializes in growing of fresh champignons, as well as in the production of compost and covering material. It is a unique enterprise with a complete closed production cycle starting from the production of compost to growing of cultivated mushrooms – champignons.
The production facility is provided with equipment from Christiaens Group, Alpi, Fancom, YORK, etc. It uses advanced production technologies and has a certified laboratory that makes it possible to constantly monitor product quality at all stages.
The facility, located in Lytvynets village (Cherkasy region), on an area of 22 hectares, includes:
- 14 pasteurization tunnels, each with a capacity of 70 tons of phase II compost.
- A compost workshop with a capacity of 980 tons of phase II compost per week. The average monthly compost output reaches 4,000 tons, where about 2,600 tons are sold to mushroom growers in all regions of Ukraine and abroad, and 1,400 tons are used in the company’s own mushroom growing chambers.
- 36 mushroom growing chambers with an effective area of 700 square meters each, which makes it possible to grow more than 300,000 tons of mushrooms per month. 40% of grown mushrooms are processed at Kaniv cannery, and 60% are sold to fresh food market.
- A workshop for the production of covering material with a capacity of 700-800 cubic meters per month.
During a year, up to 400 workers are involved in the mushroom production cycle.
VG Agro
VG Agro manages the Group's agricultural assets. The land bank of the agricultural segment totals 7,000 hectares in the most fertile regions of the country (Cherkasy and Mykolaiv regions). VG Agro includes 2 enterprises that specialize in growing of core (peas, sweet corn, zucchini) and non-core crops (other vegetables, sunflower, wheat, corn, spring barley and sorghum).
VG Production
VG Production combines facilities for the production of canned fruit and vegetables. The enterprise is comprised of 2 production plants in Cherkasy and Kaniv, which are located in close proximity to farms growing crops for them. The product line under Veres trademark numbers more than 100 items in 15 food product categories.
The Company also has a logistics centre located next to Cherkasy cannery in Chervona Sloboda village. The total area of the enterprise is 70,000 square meters, and the capacity of the centre enables it to store 58,000 tons of fruit and vegetable products at a time.
VG Trade
VG Trade is the trading house of Veres Group. It is responsible for building of an efficient system of relations with suppliers and buyers of the Group's products. The Company's staff includes more than 400 employees engaged in logistics, sales and marketing. The trading house is also a centre for operational management of the entire business.