Dan Minulescu, general manager and founder of Macromex, leader of the Romanian frozen vegetables distribution market, is counting on the HoReCa (hotels, restaurants, catering) growth potential.
"Romania will see the HoReCa distribution sector surge and this has prompted us to set up a separate unit for this type of services," said Dan Minulescu.
The same recipe has already been applied on the convenience segment (petrol stations, kiosks, small stores). Macromex had been present with distribution activities in this sector, but decided to set up a specialised company, named Macromex Convenience.
Late last year, Macromex Convenience was acquired by Germany''s Lekkerland distribution firm, in a deal market sources put at 6 million euros.
"We sold the unit to the end of raising funds to strengthen and maintain our position on the segment of frozen products distribution," Minulescu maintained.
This year, he plans to invest between three and six million euros to expand the company.
"This year, Macromex investments will be largely financed with the money derived from this transaction and with our own resources," said Minulescu. A small part of the financial resources to be used will come from banking loans contracted from ABN Amro Bank and BRD.
Beside the development of the HoReCa segment, Macromex will also invest in the expansion of the logistic and distribution infrastructure, and in advanced stock management technologies.
"We are constantly changing our car fleet, with the maximum period for the use of a car standing at five years," said Minulescu. At present, his firm owns 70 special cars for the distribution of food that needs controlled transportation temperature.
"We opened a new distribution centre in Bucharest last year, with a 4,000sqm surface area and we will try to achieve similar expansion in Timisoara as well," specified Minulescu. "We expect the logistic sector to witness the same rapid growth pace in the future," he argued.
Macromex will invest over 300,000 euros in a new technology related to stock management. "The system due to be implemented in our Bucharest warehouse will boost the productivity of warehousing operations by 30%," Minulescu added.
The system will be based on vocal commands, instead of the classical documentation, which will allow the company to do away with warehousing documents in physical format, according to the Macromex official.
"We''ve come across this idea in Hungary for the first time, and then during a visit to Lekkerland," said Dan Minulescu.
Macromex Romania
* Distributes raw materials, meat products, frozen vegetables and fruit, dairy products
* Plans to set up a separate unit handling HoReCa distribution
* Intends to invest between 3 and 6m euros in expansion
* Also plans investments in the logistic and distribution infrastructure and in the advanced stock management technologies
* Plans to expand the portfolio of distributed products
* Posted turnover worth $92m (74m euros) in 2005, up from 45m euros in 2004
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
