Unique flavours with a solid tradition

Kostelecké uzeniny is the largest Czech meat producer, boasting a 100-year tradition. Its unique products, superb quality as well as the benefits of being a member of a strong group have cemented its prime position in the central European region. Romana Moares reports.

The story of Kostelecké uzeniny began 100 years ago, in 1917. As one of the major players in the central European region, the company supplies fresh meat and a comprehensive range of meat products to the markets, with focus on high quality salamis. It is currently one of the leading producers of dry salami, especially cured salami with natural fine mould – the company’s flagship product – as well as frankfurters, soft salami, smoked meat and canned ham.

“Our core business is animal slaughter, meat processing and the packaging and production of meat semi-finished and finished products and canned meat,” explains managing director Michal Jedlička, and points out that next year the company will celebrate an important anniversary – one hundred years of operation.

In 2007, the Kostelec plant was acquired by Agrofert Holding, one of the largest agricultural and food processing groups in central Europe. Several mergers with other meat processors followed, making Kostelecké uzeniny the biggest meat processing company in the Czech Republic. In 2015 the company achieved a total turnover of nearly 5 billion CZK.

Premium quality

Kostelec, in the middle of the Czech Republic, provides ideal conditions for making meat products of the highest quality: it has the clean environment of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, a modern production base as well as a traditional approach to the butchery trade which has been passed on from generation to generation.

“Our flagship product is the Premium range, including the cured salami with natural fine mould on the surface, sold under the names of Kostelecký uherák, Křemešník, Čeřínek and Hermín,” says the managing director. “Our product portfolio also includes fresh beef and pork of Czech origin, produced locally in our own slaughterhouses in Kostelec and Planá nad Lužnicí. About two years ago we enriched the product range with a new line of products with a minimum meat content of 90 per cent,” he adds.

An example of a gourmet product with an exceptional ripening time is Reserva 1917. Salami 1917 Reserva has a unique flavour, underlined not only by the natural high-grade mould on the surface but also by the spices used. Recently a new, more practical size of 1.8kg was introduced.

Another unique product is the round salami with cheese, made only from selected pork meat. It is completed with a blue cheese flavour, which makes it a culinary speciality. The round salami with cheese is also produced during the process of fermentation. This natural process, used for food production for over 2000 years, gives the product a fantastic flavour of salami and cheese in one. From this year onwards, the round salami with cheese is also available in a wooden box emphasising its uniqueness.

Solid production base

The company currently operates four specialised production plants – in Kostelec, there are two facilities, one focused on beef production (slaughtering, portioning, packaging, dispatching), the other focused on meat production (a complete product range of all meat products including canned meat). The third facility is located in Planá nad Lužnicí and its core business is pork production. This facility has the largest slaughterhouse in the country with a daily output of up to 2000 swines and a comprehensive production of pork including portioning, slicing, packaging and production of fresh ready-tocook products. The fourth, smaller plant is in Most and specialises in smaller batches and meat specialities, with a particular focus on natural casing sausages.

“In 2015 we invested about 30 million CZK in increased production capacity for cured fine-mould salami. Another 100 million was invested in 2016, namely in modern production technologies for both fresh meat production and meat products,” says the managing director. The company plans to implement a further, major investment in the order of hundreds of millions in 2017 and 2018, again with the aim of further enhancing its production base.

Promising future

The company’s customer base includes major retail chains such as Billa, Ahold, Makro, Tesco, Lidl as well as Procházka, a chain of its own butchers. About five per cent of total output is sold in export markets, mainly in the neighbouring countries.

“The meat sector is heavily affected by competition from foreign retail chains, driving prices down,” says Mr Jedlička. “Another important factor, influencing in particular the fresh pork sector, has been the decline in swine numbers in the Czech Republic in the last ten years and the rise of meat imports. In this context, Kostelecké uzeniny benefits from the vertical synergy created by the Agrofert Holding of which our company is a member.”

Mr Jedlička remains optimistic about the future. “In the next three years we plan to increase investment in automation and robotisation. For the years to come, we foresee further output growth as well as increased levels of export.”

Given its strong position and progressive development in the past few decades, it looks like the tradition of Kostelecké uzeniny will continue for many years to come. n