Million Euros European Păté

The Romanian can and păté producers invest millions of euros, getting themselves ready for the great competition in the European market.

More than three million euros. This is the sum invested in modern equipment by the liver păté and Scandia Romania cans producer in Sibiu. The company received 1,905 million euros due to a SAPARD programme. The money has been used in order to modernize the factory, to increase the products’ quality and to create a hygienic environment, according to the European Union standards.

MODERN EQUIPMENT. The company bought two complete automatic lines of production for cans, a production line for meat and a wrapping line. The factory has now performing equipment (cutters, can machines, sterilizers, labelling and wrapping machines). "The new package sterilizing capacities can certify the absolute safety of the thermal treatment, an essential factor for preserving the products in optimal conditions", Sorin Bozdog, the commercial director of the company, said.

HYGIENE AND QUALITY . In order to create a hygienic producing environment, in the Sibiu factory, at the entrances and at the exits of the units, there have been installed sluices to sterilize the working outfit. The employees wear white overalls, caps and special shoes, and they are not allowed to enter the factory while wearing chains, earrings, watches, mobile phones or any other things that might affect the products. The employees’ health status is checked at every shift, and the sick workers are sent in other departments, where they cannot come in contact with the alimentary products, as Carmen Iosifescu, quality manager, stated for us.

TESTS. Part of the investment of the producer in Sibiu has been used in order to buy an infrared analyser to scan the food products.

In Sibiu, each sort is being tested almost four thousand times daily, in order to check the products’ quality. In the Scandia factory the ISO 9001 standards are implemented, and, in a short period of time, the products will be certified according to the HACCP European alimentary safety standard as well.

THE MARKET. The company in Sibiu has 600 employees and a yearly production of more than ten thousand tons of meat products, from which one can distinguish the liver păté (80% of the production), meat products and foods. About half of the Romanian can production comes from Scandia Romania, which is the leader of the canned liver păté market in Romania. It has a market quotation of 40%, according to AC Nielsen. Antrefrig, Ardealul and Mandy are some of the main competitors in the Romanian păté and can market. The Ardealul company in Covasna had, in 2003, a turnover of approximately 10 million USD and a total production of almost 8 thousand tons. It had 250 employees, according to last year’s Capital 300 top. Mandy produces meat cans, mixed and fish cans, as well as sauces and fruit cans. Another important player is Antrefrig, which got in front due to its pork pătés and cans.