Delovoy Peterburg, 14.01.2008
Delovoy Peterburg, 14.01.2008
The contemporary food industry is hardly imaginable without all sorts of food additives. The manufacture of ingredients is one of the most dynamically and rapidly-developing branches of the global and Russian alimentation industry. The market for ingredients and food additives is highly competitive: Russian companies have to compete with serious foreign players dominating in Russia. All of these facts were relayed by OLEG MIKHAILOVICH KAYSHEV, Executive Director of Chemical & Food Aromatic Plant.
New future of domestically-produced flavorings
Chemical & Food Aromatic Plant is the oldest and largest enterprise of the branch and the sole supplier of food essences for all branches of the Soviet Union food industry in 1935-1991. What does enterprise management undertake to keep abreast of the times?
– John Galsworthy once said: "If you do not think of your future, you cannot have one." Chemical & Food Aromatic Plant works for the future, expanding production activities, upgrading equipment, strengthening relations with Russian enterprises, exploring new areas, maintaining its standing as a leading company on the Russian food-flavorings market. Today, one of the core strategic objectives for us consists of the formation of a marketing strategy in accordance with contemporary realities, with account for tough competition and the prevalence of ingredients of foreign origin on the domestic market. The Plant is a hi-tech, modern, continuously-upgrading enterprise. We manufacture flavorings for confectionary products, drinks, dairy products, ice cream, oil-and-fat products and other areas of the food industry, as well as flavorings for the production of certain medications. The portfolio includes over 300 flavoring items. Among the Plant's product consumers are the largest manufacturers of food products in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and the Baltic states.
In order to retain active consumers and attract new ones, a well-balanced portfolio is required. What is your plant's portfolio policy?
– We are constantly expanding our portfolio of manufactured products,, developing 20-30 new flavors annually. Unlike Western companies, our enterprise takes into account national traditions and the idiosyncrasies of the Russian mentality. Nevskiye, Voronezhskiye and Tulskiye gingerbreads, Kolokolchik and Buratino soft drinks were developed with usage of the Plant's flavouring essences. Preserving the traditions of the manufacture of savoury gingerbreads, the Plant now offers new top-quality flavorings with the taste and flavor of northern berries such as cranberry, lingonberry, blueberry, raspberry, wild strawberry, strawberry with cream and many others. Plant specialists are proceeding with the development and organization of the production and industrial-commercialization of undeservingly-forgotten national drinks: kvasses and fruit infusions. By the way, the demand for our products is constantly growing. At the same time, we’re expanding new activity areas and manufacturing that we previously either did not produce at all or produced on a very small scale such as flavorings for snack products: chips, nuts, rusks etc.
A company's success is the sum total of multiple components, including the selection of highly-professional employees, specialist training and recurrent training. Do you conduct work for refinement of the Plant’s management system?
– By all means, the secret to success consists in preserving our team of experienced unique specialists and engaging new managers capable of increasing the overall operational efficiency of the enterprise as a whole. During the past two months, for instance, eight executive specialists have been recruited.
Structurally, the Plant represents a research and production association carrying out the complete cycle of flavorings creation: from development to manufacture.
A special division of the Plant is the research hub. There is a whole laboratory complex in place, responding to consumers' requests by creating the flavorings the food industry needs. Specialists of Chemical & Food Aromatic Plant are prepared to render a client technological support, provide the samples required for laboratory and production testing and produce customized flavorings.
Today, when food-product safety has become an increasingly-significant problem, food-product certification issues are particularly relevant. How do you solve the quality problem?
– Each flavoring manufactured at the Plant undergoes a thorough audit resulting in the Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate issuing a state registration certificate. The Plant’s quality-management system conforms to the requirements of the international standard ISO9001-2000. The Plant has passed TuV NORD CERT GmbH & KG certification. The quality of our manufactured products is monitored at the enterprise at all production stages: from incoming raw-stock control to end-product warehousing. The high quality of the enterprise's products is acknowledged by multiple diplomas and medals received at Russian and international exhibitions. Among them are the Russian Federation highest public award in the sphere of food productions For the Abundance and Prosperity of Russia (2011), laureatship in the Main All-Russian Public Award Russian National Olympus (Moscow, 2004), a gold medal won at the Moscow International Exhibition Food Ingredients, Additives and Spices 2007, and many others.
Anna Krivitskaya