Romania’s leading chicken producer, Agricola International Bacau, has finalised a 4.3 million-euro SAPARD-funded investment directed to the upgrade of two factories, Conagra and Europrod, which allowed it to enter the semi-cooked chicken foods market. “We are entering a market segment that is shaping up more and more clearly and already has a tradition in the EU countries. On the other hand, we don’t want to be raw material suppliers any longer but supply the market with higher added value products,” says Gheorghe Antochi, Agricola International chairman. Conagra factory had 2.2 million euros invested in it so that its production capacity was increased from 12 tonnes/day to 30 tonnes/day. Agricola International invested another 2.1 million euros in buying equipment for the Europrod factory, which will make fast food and ready-meal semi-cooked meats. ZF