Warsaw Voice - Prime Cuts

12 January 2005

A new company specialized in meat processing, Nove Sp. z o.o. based in Nowe in Pomerania region, started operation at the end of December 2004.

The company was established by Prime Food Sp. z o.o. meat processing company and Danish TiCan a.m.b.a. company. Each of the two partners holds a 50-percent interest in the new company.

Nove company will specialize mainly in the production of boiled, smoked and dried meat products and sausages. Its target capacity is estimated at 600 tonnes of processed meat a week and it will be able to manufacture additional 40 tonnes thanks to the capacity of its parent companies. Jens Damgaard Hansen is the general director. He has held a similar position for the past four years in the Prime Food company.

Beside production for the Polish market and the sale of processed meat to Denmark and to other Scandinavian countries, Nove will be selling its products through a specially established Danish company, TiCan Foods A/S.

TiCan strategy amounts to increasing Nove's capacity. Sales will be developed mainly in Central European and Eastern markets and in the European Union. "We decided on cooperation with another company as, in our view, the possibilities on the Polish market are immense. Our decision had depended on finding an ideal partner in Poland-we have found it in Prime Food company of Przechlewo," said Ove Thejls, general director of TiCan a.m.b.a.

"Over the past few years we have scored a marked success in the production and sales of processed meat products on the Polish market," Tom Axelgaard from Prime Food said. "Recently retailers from Denmark have showed a considerable interest in our products. This offers excellent conditions for Prime Food to continue growth which we can achieve only thanks to new investment projects. We also realize that our new partner from Denmark-TiCan is a well-known and highly valued company in the European food business and we expect that our sale growth will be taking place not just on the Danish but also on the British market where TiCan also operates."

Prime Food has operated since 1999 and it is specialized in the slaughter, butchering, processing and sale of pork and beef and of meat products. The capacity of the plant from Przechlewo is being used 100 percent; the weekly slaughter amounts to 9,000 pigs and 300 heads of cattle. Daily production of meat products amounts to an estimated 30 tonnes.

TiCan has existed since 1931. It is an autonomous Danish company specialized in the slaughter and processing of pigs. The company processes some 1.4 million swine annually. Its offer includes packed meat, cured meat and delicatessen products. Some 80 percent of the company output is being exported. TiCan employs over 1,100 people; in 2003 its sales exceeded 2.6 billion Danish kroner.