In 2020, Veres Group increased the sales of canned products under its own trademark by 8% – to UAH 946.9 million[1] compared to 2019. The brand's product line has expanded by 24 SKUs[2], which is the largest figure in the last 5 years.
The sales of canned products in the domestic market rose by 2.1% – to UAH 792.1 million compared to 2019. The Company’s export supplies went up by a factor of 2.2 in monetary terms – up to almost UAH 138.5 million.
Last year, Veres Group opened its own first trading house in Kazakhstan with direct supplies of products to 4 retail chains Magnum Cash & Carry, Small, Dina, Kenmart, which are among the 10 largest retail operators in the country. In addition, the Group signed a promising export contract for the supply of canned green peas to Singapore. The project consisted of two supplies totalling UAH 40.5 million.
During 2020, Veres introduced to the market products in 4 categories new for the brand:
- ready-to-eat food "Lunches like home" (3 SKUs)
- dry spices and seasonings (12 SKUs)
- fresh tomato ketchup (3 SKUs)
- liquid spices (4 SKUs).
At the beginning of the year, the Company released new items in the sauce category (American Original mustard) and in the sweet products category (Pumpkin-orange confiture).
In early autumn, the brand went on the air of a popular cooking show Masterchef with a new communication slogan "Smachno yak zavgodno" (Tasty as you wish). After a long "silence" in the media space, a kind of a manifesto was intended to show that the brand and Veres Company are developing and transforming in accordance with the demands of consumers and modern lifestyle.
The sales proceeds from non-core commercial crops[3] in 2020 amounted to UAH 98.6 million. This figure reflects a 14.13% increase compared to 2019.
The production of mushroom products (mushroom mycelium blocks) in the reporting year grew up by 6% to almost 40,000 tons. The growth in the actual production of fresh mushrooms in the reporting year is +3%, compared to 2019, and that of packaged mushrooms is +64% (138.8 tons against 84.6 tons in 2019).
External sales of mushroom products in 2020 compared to 2019 look as follows: for mushroom mycelium blocks +7%, for fresh mushrooms +20%, and for packaged mushrooms +64%.
An increase in the production of both mushroom products and fresh mushrooms is planned for 2021.
The reporting year 2020 was a record year in terms of productivity of the Company’ production units and its logistics centre. Compared to 2019, the productivity gain (kg/person-hour) was as follows:
- Kaniv production division +12%
- Cherkasy production division +8.5%
- Cherkasy logistics centre (finished products' labelling division) +34%.
Last year, Veres Group implemented some large-scale investment projects: the purchase of new agricultural equipment for the agricultural complex, the overhaul of mushroom growing units, the renewal of equipment at the canned products’ production units, and a large-scale project (in terms of scope of work and investments) to install an automated labelling line for finished products. The investment amount disbursed in 2020 totalled UAH 40.529 million. The planned investment amount in the 2021 budget is UAH 26.089 million.
The total amount of taxes paid in 2020 by Veres Group is UAH 178.229 million.
'In 2021, we plan to increase the total revenue from the sales of core products by a third, to actively develop the category of ready-to-eat food and develop new export markets,' noted the CEO of Veres Group Arseniy Beliukin.
During the year, the Company plans to launch a fancy food line (6 SKUs) and expand the liquid spices category by 3 items.
Reference
Veres Group, part of Smart-Holding industrial and investment group, is a vertically integrated FMCG business specializing in the production of food products, canned food and sauces in particular.
The Group is comprised of 2 processing and 2 agricultural enterprises, and a logistics centre for storage of products. It also includes the largest champignon mushroom growing farm in Ukraine. The Group’s facilities annually process up to 25,000 tons of fruits and vegetables. Throughout a year, the Company employs about 2,400 people, including permanent and seasonal workers.
Products under Veres trademark are supplied to more than 35 countries. The Group`s share in the domestic market of canned fruits and vegetables is 30%. The Group is among the TOP-3 producers of canned vegetables in Ukraine.
[2] SKU (stock-keeping unit) is a product line item (unit of one commodity group, brand, grade in one type of packaging of the same volume)
