Viktor Semyonov announces a new investment project during the INFOLine plenary session.
On 22 September 2021, the founder of Belaya Dacha Viktor Semyonov spoke at the plenary session of the INFOLine business analytics firm, which became a highlight of the WorldFood Moscow 2021 agenda.
During the plenary discussion, Viktor Semyonov answered questions from the head of INFOLine.
Ivan Fedyakov: Earlier this year, the word was out about a big deal involving your company’s exit from the French fries manufacturing industry. It’s been a big multi-year project, and you’ve been successfully developing it. Does your exit mean you’ve decided to cut back on your assets in agriculture and the food industry?
Viktor Semyonov: I’ve never considered myself a potato farmer. I was involved in vegetable cultivation and once even pig farming (at the time, I had a fairly big business), but now I’m focusing on salads. Just because I like it.
When we started the potato processing project, I had a 74% share, and my American–Dutch partners held the remaining 26% since they were unwilling to make large investments in the Russian business. And when I saw our ‘ship’ motoring full ahead, we started negotiating the deal (we’d agreed at the outset that I would sell them my share).
Long story short, I just fulfilled this project and I’m glad I succeeded in substituting the imported French fries in Russia by almost 100%. That’s my contribution, so let the “ship” power on — I’ll wish her fair winds and following seas.
Ivan Fedyakov: Your salads are in the ultra-fresh category. It is difficult to carry them over long distances, and yet, Belaya Dacha seeks to expand into the regions. How can these two facts be reconciled?
Viktor Semyonov: You’re right in saying our products are super-fresh. The salad has a shelf life of seven days, and it’s essential that we streamline our production system so that the customer gets our produce fresh. Two years ago, we bought a plant in Novosibirsk, which helped us reach out to Vladivostok. We are offered to build a facility there as well, but so far we dismiss it as completely unprofitable, so we will wait until the Far Eastern market shows some growth.
That being said, I’d like to announce our new project, which we planned to launch by 2014, but the notorious events you all know about have halted it for an extra seven years. We are breaking ground on a plant in the Krasnodar Territory, where we will both prepare the cultivation area and set up light greenhouses. These structures are both eco-friendly and perfect for salad greens. Such designs aren’t good for tomatoes and cucumbers, while salad greens, on the contrary, are pretty averse to sophisticated structures. The first stage will include 10 hectares, followed by 10 more, which will make us the largest player in the region in terms of baby leaves. Besides, we will be growing iceberg lettuce.
This will bring us closer to the customers, provide a longer shelf life and keep the salad price more stable.
New technological structure in agriculture. Experience of Italy and Russia.
On 22 September 2021, the founder of Belaya Dacha Viktor Semyonov spoke at the plenary session of the INFOLine business analytics firm, which became a highlight of the WorldFood Moscow 2021 agenda.
During the plenary discussion, Viktor Semyonov answered questions from the head of INFOLine.
Ivan Fedyakov: Earlier this year, the word was out about a big deal involving your company’s exit from the French fries manufacturing industry. It’s been a big multi-year project, and you’ve been successfully developing it. Does your exit mean you’ve decided to cut back on your assets in agriculture and the food industry?
Viktor Semyonov: I’ve never considered myself a potato farmer. I was involved in vegetable cultivation and once even pig farming (at the time, I had a fairly big business), but now I’m focusing on salads. Just because I like it.
When we started the potato processing project, I had a 74% share, and my American–Dutch partners held the remaining 26% since they were unwilling to make large investments in the Russian business. And when I saw our ‘ship’ motoring full ahead, we started negotiating the deal (we’d agreed at the outset that I would sell them my share).
Long story short, I just fulfilled this project and I’m glad I succeeded in substituting the imported French fries in Russia by almost 100%. That’s my contribution, so let the “ship” power on — I’ll wish her fair winds and following seas.
Ivan Fedyakov: Your salads are in the ultra-fresh category. It is difficult to carry them over long distances, and yet, Belaya Dacha seeks to expand into the regions. How can these two facts be reconciled?
Viktor Semyonov: You’re right in saying our products are super-fresh. The salad has a shelf life of seven days, and it’s essential that we streamline our production system so that the customer gets our produce fresh. Two years ago, we bought a plant in Novosibirsk, which helped us reach out to Vladivostok. We are offered to build a facility there as well, but so far we dismiss it as completely unprofitable, so we will wait until the Far Eastern market shows some growth.
That being said, I’d like to announce our new project, which we planned to launch by 2014, but the notorious events you all know about have halted it for an extra seven years. We are breaking ground on a plant in the Krasnodar Territory, where we will both prepare the cultivation area and set up light greenhouses. These structures are both eco-friendly and perfect for salad greens. Such designs aren’t good for tomatoes and cucumbers, while salad greens, on the contrary, are pretty averse to sophisticated structures. The first stage will include 10 hectares, followed by 10 more, which will make us the largest player in the region in terms of baby leaves. Besides, we will be growing iceberg lettuce.
This will bring us closer to the customers, provide a longer shelf life and keep the salad price more stable.
