EkoNiva launches new production in Voronezh oblast

Currently, the curd line with a capacity of 10 tonnes of finished product per day functions on an area of 300 sq. m. The facility is equipped with a highly automated technological equipment of domestic and foreign manufacturing to produce curds with the fat content of 5% and 9%. The finished product is packaged into 180 g briquettes and 300 and 750 g flow packs. By the end of the year 0.5% curds will be added to the product range.

For the convenience of the staff and compliance with food safety requirements, the premises now feature a new, fully equipped amenity building; an ice water station using environmentally friendly freon, a new power centre and an improved water treatment system.

Investment in the first phase of reconstruction is expected to reach 841 million rubles. The second phase is estimated at 1.1 billion rub. The project is implemented with the support of AO ‘Rosselkhozbank’.

The second phase will include expansion of the curd line capacity to 20 tonnes per day, installment of the milk and whey drying plant, construction of a new finished goods storage, a boiler room and a high-voltage transformer. Upon completion of the project, at least 54 jobs will be created, 29 of them in the first phase. As a result, the number of employees will grow to at least 263.

The comprehensive reconstruction of the facility as well as commissioning of two more UHT milk production lines will allow increasing the processing capacity of Anna dairy plant up to 750 tonnes of raw milk per day by 2025. Before the reconstruction, the plant processed 200 tonnes of raw milk per day.

‘EkoNiva’s investment initiative will undoubtedly benefit the company and Voronezh oblast on the whole. Dairy industry is one of the key areas of economic development in this region. Mainly due to EkoNiva, which produces over a half of all raw milk in the region (54%), we continue to be among the leaders in this market segment. The new plant will help to increase the region's processing capacity, which is extremely important to us today. By the way, some of the equipment at the plant is of domestic make. Thus, we continue developing import replacement. Besides helping to overcome today's global challenges, EkoNiva creates comfortable working conditions for the local residents and offers competitive salaries’, pointed out Aleksandr Gusev, Governor of Voronezh oblast at the official opening ceremony.

‘EkoNiva has been producing curds at the dairy plant in Shchuchye village since 2016. Raw milk of the highest quality, many years of experience and a growing demand for natural dairy products have become a solid foundation for further expansion of the group's production. Now EkoNiva can offer our customers even more products to suit every taste’, says Stefan Dürr, President of EkoNiva Group.

The dairy plant in Anna became part of EkoNiva Group in 2017. The facility features modern equipment of leading global and domestic manufacturers. Today, in addition to milk and curds, cream, butter and ice cream are produced under the EkoNiva brand. They are made using premium-quality raw milk from the Group’s farms located nearby – in Anna and Bobrov districts.

Products from the Anna dairy plant are delivered to the major federal retail chains and EkoNiva brand shops and are available in more than 60 regions of Russia. The enterprise is certified to export UHT milk to China and Kazakhstan and regularly delivers high-quality natural produce to its foreign partners.

About the company

EkoNiva Group is a vertically integrated agricultural holding, the largest raw milk producer in Russia and Europe. The company’s assets are located in 13 regions of Russia: Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Ryazan, Samara and Tyumen oblasts, Altai area, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. Dairy farming is the main business of the Group, which owns 40 modern dairies housing 220,000 head of cattle, including 110,000 dairy cows. In 2021, EkoNiva produced over 1.1 million tonnes of raw milk. Since 2013, the Group has been developing its own milk processing. EkoNiva is a top 5 owner of agricultural land having 630,000 ha. Preliminary figures from the unaudited consolidated financial statement indicate that in 2021 the sales revenue of the Group grew by 33% to 50.8 billion RUB, EBITDA – by 3%, exceeding 16.6 billion RUB.