Constar-crossed Animex

Animex, a part of the American giant Smithfield Foods, is one of the biggest meat exporters in Poland, but in the past year it became more famous for its Constar plant. In mid-April 2005 a report detailed unsanitary conditions in the meat processing factory, a scandal that cost the company more than zł.25 million, according to the president of Animex, Morten M Jensen.

Once the Constar story had faded from the public eye, the company had to face a drop in sales thanks to bird flu. "In our group we have four plants for red meat, but also four plants for poultry and we are the biggest poultry producer in Poland. Luckily our losses caused by bird flu are not that striking, as 40 percent of our poultry production is exported and we manged to complete all the contracts despite the bird flu cases in Poland," says Jensen.

These two factors, plus the Russian and Ukrainian ban on the import of Polish meat, resulted in a price drop, sometimes even below the cost of production. Still, the consolidated sales results in 2005 reached zł.2.2 billion, which was zł.100 million more than the previous year. These problems have not discouraged Animex from making plans for the future, and it intends to conquer new markets, such as Japan, and invest in its brands.