RUSSIA, Moscow. In 2020, Cherkizovo Group, Russia’s largest meat producer, increased its sausage sales through retail chains by 21% in monetary terms according to NielsenIQ. This puts Cherkizovo ahead of the industry average of 14% for 2020.
Data from analytics company NielsenIQ show the turnover of Russian sausage retailers grew 14% in 2020 to RUB 245 bn. Product categories that recorded notable growth included cooked and smoked sausages (19% or RUB 4.5 bn.), dry sausages (18% or RUB 3.8 bn.), ham (18% or RUB 1.9 bn.), cooked sausages (16% or RUB 7.2 bn.), hot dogs (13% or RUB 8.1 bn.), and deli meats (12% or RUB 3 bn.),
In volume terms, sausage sales through Russian retail chains grew 13% to 761,300 t last year according to NielsenIQ. Positive trends were recorded across almost all sausage product segments. For example, sales of cooked and smoked sausages grew 22% (14,300 t), cooked sausages 18% (30,000 t), ham 18% (6,100 t), dry sausages 17% (5,100 t), hot dogs 12% (26,900 t), and deli meats 12% (6,100 t).
According to NielsenIQ, Cherkizovo Group’s sausage sales grew faster than the rest of the market in 2020 in monetary terms, increasing by 21% to RUB 16.3 bn. The highest growth was recorded for deli meats (430%), dry sausages (33%), ham (32%), and cooked sausages (26%).
In the dry sausage segment, the company had the biggest market share among all retail chains in 2020, accounting for 20% in value terms. Over the year, Cherkizovo increased its market share by 2.3 p.p. The increase was due to good sales of the Premium line and the launch of the 225 g Astoria sausage. Furthermore, at 27%, the Group also had the largest market share in the ham segment in 2020 in value terms. The 3 p.p market share increase is down to good sales of the Po-Cherkizovsky ham as well as the launch of turkey products under the Imperiya Vkusa and Pava-Pava brands.
In volume terms, Cherkizovo Group’s sausage sales grew 12% to 48,600 t last year. Sales of deli meats increased by 355%, ham 31%, dry sausages 26%, and cooked sausages 24%.
On April 30, LLC “APK Mikhailovsky”, a part of Cherkizovo Group, closed the transaction to acquire 100% of shares in LLC “Pit-Product” from the Finnish Atria Group. As a result, Cherkizovo acquired two new meat-processing plants with the capacity of 39 000 t of sausages, hot dogs and meat deli p.a. The transaction also included logistics facilities and trademarks, including their core brand – Pit Product.
Cherkizovo Group signed a preliminary agreement with Atria Group on LLC “Pit-Product” acquisition on February 15. In March the transaction was approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service.
Legal support of the transaction was provided by Eversheds Sutherland. goetzpartners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Cherkizovo Group. Financial and tax due diligence was conducted by Deloitte.