Agriculture

Among two surimi producers in the world and that top are certainly best known in Europe, the name Vičiūnai has become the synonym of surimi products.

When the Company was founded in 1991 probably, no one could imagine that it would of its become one of the largest and most modern seafood companies in Europe within a few years.

Today the group employs almost 5000 employees all over the world, and has five production sites in three countries: Lithuania, Estonia, and Russia. All production sites have ultramodern facilities, one of them newly rebuilt after having been destroyed by a fire a couple of years ago. Since the very beginning Vičiūnai, has invested in state-of-the-art equipment and procurement of high-quality raw materials for further processing. That decision has amply repaid when the large eastern market slumped up temporarily following the 1998 financial crisis in Russia. Thereafter, the Company shifted its focus on to the West. Currently Vičiūnai products are sold in 42 countries, 95 per cent of the products are intended for supermarkets or for further processing by another manufacturer. Vičiūnai continues to expand its distribution network and has already started to penetrate in to the Asian markets. The company operates its own distribution officies and logistics in Russia, Ukraine, Kazachstan, Bellorussia, and Poland.

Technology improves

It is not an exaggeration to state that the Plungë surimi plant,– which boasts traditional lines for turning out rolled seafood analog items, as well as three molding lines for making surimi-based crab claws with real pincers, breaded shrimp, lobster tails, etc. – is second to none when it comes to careful attention to cleanliness and strict enforcement of personal hygiene regimen. Wearing sanitized clothing from head to toe, workers on the factory floor look more like members of medical surgical teams than the production personnel in a fish plant. The highly efficient BRC, IFC, HACCP-and ISO 9002-certified facility, which operates 24 hours, provides approximately 1,500 people with jobs.

New products added to the line

Before Vičiūnai launched its line of crabsticks and other analo-gue seafood products, there was a salmon processor and manufacturer of products in brine, such as pink shrimp (Pandalus borealis), mussels, and crayfish tails. However, the rapid growth in the production of surimi-based items eclipsed everything else and the name Vičiūnai came to be identified with crabsticks and other surimi products. The term crabsticks, however, do not do justice to the wide range of products that are made by the Company today. These include noodles, chunks, and crabsticks with different tastes including fruit flavored ones, in seafood cocktails, with cheese, with different fillings, combi-ned in salads, and sausages. Moreover, not all the crabsticks are savory, there is even a sweet variety – a chocolate surimi bite with a coconut filling! The molded seafood products also come in a wide range including claws, shrimps, and lobster tails, in oil, or plain. Surimi-derived items still dominate the Company‘s wide range of products accounting for 70 per cent of the production. The remaining 30 per cent comprises mainly breaded products, fish, and seafood, ready meals, pizza, and pancakes.

Each year the company’s technologists upgrade their skills at the Surimi School in France, Japan, and USA.

Private label products for major supermarkets

“Vici“ brand is known virtually to everyone in the Baltics. It is of the leaders in Eastern markets, which is expanding really fast in Central Europe and has a lot of ambitions in the West.

Since private label or store brand products account for up to 80 per cent of turnover, the Company stays in close contact with supermarket chains, as well as with wholesalers. If a buyer wants to change packaging or produce promotional materials to distribute at the stores,– it is no problem. Vičiūnai’s in-house Graphic Design Department in Lithuania prides itself on fulfilig all prepress functions creatively and promptly. This saves both time and money, and no expensive outside agencies are needed.

Vičiūnai has other advantages – including geography and logistics – which give it a superior compentative adventage. The Vičiūnai Group has its own Transport Department containing about 300 vehicles, of which over 40 are full-length reefer and bitemperature trucks, enabling chilled and frozen products to be transported simul-taneously. The trucks can reach any destination within the EU, as well as in Central Europe and Russia, in less than 72 hours. Shipments from the rivals in East Asia to destinations in Europe, on the other hand, generally take about a month by sea.

Tastes differ across Europe and the Company does its best to adapt to that. Mini salads are sold in the Baltic States, in Eastern and Central Europe, rather than in the west where tastes are a little more conservative. Of course, when making private label products recipes come from the client. Customers include some of the biggest names in European retailing, including, Tesco, Auchan, Aldi, Metro, and, Carrefour.

www.vici.lt