Tabco Campofrio to invest 10m euros

The general manager of Tabco Campofrio, one of the biggest charcuterie producers on the Romanian market, says the company will invest over 10 million euros during the next three years, particularly to develop production farms.

“Our plan for the near future is to produce 40-50% of our firm”s pork necessary in the farms we own in Constanta county,” says Ovidiu Wencz, general manager of Tabco Campofrio. The company owns two pig farms in Fantanele and Sibioara, in Constanta county.

Beside its own production, the company will use raw material delivered through partnerships with Romanian farmers, as well as from European Union imports, which the company does not want to renounce for profitability reasons.

“It is possible that the price of raw material coming from Europe may drop, and this is why we shall continue to have a flexible policy on the pig breeding market,” explains Wencz.

The general manager of Tabco Campofrio says that the idea of producing in its own farms had not been included from the very beginning in the company”s policy.

“The insufficient and poor quality of raw materials supplied on the Romanian market has made us decide to produce part of the pork we need ourselves,” he argued. In line with his estimates, the Romanian meat processing industry needs 3-4 million pigs annually, but only 6-8 hundred thousand pigs can be secured from internal production.

Wencz also said that last year the company completely gave up imports of pig carcass because it could rely on its own farms and on contracts with farmers. Investments in farms will also be sustained by the rising processing capacity. “This year, we want to lift the production capacity of the plant in Tulcea from 12.500 tonnes per annum, to 17,000 tonnes,” he also stated.

The company”s total investment in pig farms, the processing plant in Tulcea and also environmental protection projects will this year amount to 5 million euros. The money will come from the company”s own funds, but Ovidiu Wencz says he will apply for Sapard financing this year, too.

In 2005, investments carried by Tabco Campofrio were approximately around 4 million euros, of which 2 million came from Sapard.

The two farms Tabco Campofrio owned in Constanta county were running complementary activities. The farm of Fantanele imports genetic material from Spain, for which it doesn”t have to pay customs duties, in line with the current customs code, while the farm of Sibioara handles pig breeding and fattening.

In late 2005, investments Tabco Campofrio made to farms totalled 6.4 million euros in line with the company”s own estimates.

Last year, the firm derived turnover worth 33m euros, 30% higher year-on-year.