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In the News
s Polish meat producers are still learning how to sell their product in Poland more e ectively, says Mościbrody’s Irena Hejnia.
“The price we get for Halal meat is key for us. In 2010, we were the first Polish brand that entered the Turkish market with our Halal meat.” Certified by the Islamic Faith Association, Mokobody’s plant undergoes an audit every year. It’s an expense certification to maintain, Podniesiński says, noting the special training required to perform Halal slaughter. “Our plant has to have at least two full-time employees of Islamic faith so they can work di erent shifts. This is why you see employees here from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,” he says.
As with many products around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused supply problems for cattle as well. “The number of cattle in Poland is steadily decreasing, so all the plants and slaughterhouses have the same problems,” he says. “In Poland, we’re now in a situation where if you want to buy some livestock, you have to make decisions quickly. If you wait, they will disappear immediately because the competition will snatch the animals.”
Though our tour was focused largely on the pork processing side of the business, Zakład Mięsny Mościbrody, founded in 1996, produces a range of smoked products from turkey, beef, and pork, and slaughters beef and pork. The producer exports to Germany, France, and Italy. It is also starting partnerships in Denmark.
“For the past four years, I’ve been working with Japan to export smoked turkey drumsticks and other smoked products into that country,” notes Irena Hejnia, managing director of Mościbrody. “Because we process and package meat products, we can export to other countries that we cannot export to otherwise. For example, we cannot export raw meat to Japan, but we can export processed products there.”
There was a time, 10 to 15 years ago, that Poland looked to Russia as its key export market. “Russia eventually closed their borders to us, and then they started to learn how to produce those products that we used to export to them,” Hejnia says.
Because of that, Polish meat producers are still learning how to sell their products more e ectively in Poland, according to Hejnia. “Our niche now is to focus on the superior quality of our meat and take our products to market on that high level to di erentiate from others,” she says.
Workforce concerns
No matter where we are around the world, we seem to be hearing the same workforce woes, with every quarter having di culty finding the workers they need to grow their operations—or even keep them running at capacity. This is no di erent at the meat processing plants in Poland.
At Mokobody, the lack of labor causes problems throughout the farming and slaughter business, says Podniesiński, who is seeing a generational shift in the industry. “There aren’t really farmers anymore like my parents were, and their readiness for the di cult toil of farming.”
He is taking extra measures to secure workers, particularly for the Halal processing. “We have an employee from Uzbekistan. On Friday, I took the documents of four of his friends to the workrelated authorities to get them registered so they could work here,” he says. “Our company is currently building housing for our workers from other countries. I have to have those kinds of attractions. Otherwise, I would have nobody working here.”
Mościbrody gets only about half of its workers from inside Poland, with others coming from the Ukraine and Georgia, for example, Hejnia says.
“The sta ng problem for me is that workers from outside Poland are coming here for a short time, and they’re learning a new process. It takes about a month for them to learn their jobs, and by the third month, they’re going back to their countries,” Hejnia says. “Some stay here for half a year, but it’s not possible to stay here longer because of their work permits.” (Note: This conversation took place before the Ukraine’s current war with Russia, during which more than 3.5 million people have so far fled the country, many into Poland.)
Hejnia sees labor as Mościbrody’s biggest issue, making it very di cult to find workers. “The ones we have learn how to work in meat processing. When they leave, they take those skills to other countries like Germany,” she says.
The next stage for Poland is to ensure additional funding to promote high-quality products around the world, UPEMI’s Różański says, adding the need to better prepare students in vocational schools for the industry. “We’re equipping training rooms, buying the equipment to educate young people, to give them real information about animal production.”
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PACK EXPO East Returns, Bigger Than Ever
PACK EXPO EAST 2022 continued its strong run of record-breaking events, welcoming more than 6,600 attendees across 95,000 net sq ft of show floor, making it the largest PACK EXPO East since its inception, according to show producer PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.
“PACK EXPO East continues to meet every benchmark as the premier regional packaging and processing event in the Northeast,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO of PMMI. “Exhibitors and attendees really enjoy the opportunity for extended conversations that serve as the foundation for real, actionable business relationships.”
“What an energetic show. People were eager to see the latest solutions and discuss how they can benefit their business,” says Michael Garvey, CRM management and sales automation at Garvey, which has exhibited at every PACK EXPO East. “You can tell people are happy to be back to inperson events, and we have been able to have meaningful conversations with entire teams looking to find solutions for upcoming projects.”
John Holmes, line integration sales manager at DTM Massman, has also exhibited at every PACK EXPO East and considers it as crucial to his company’s business as the more extensive PACK EXPO International (Oct. 23-26, 2022, McCormick Place, Chicago) and PACK EXPO Las Vegas (Sept. 11-13, 2023, Las Vegas Convention Center). “Show after show, PACK EXPO East brings in customers from up and down the East Coast who have projects they are ready to start or genuine curiosity on what options are available to them,” he says.
The opportunity to make valuable connections extended beyond the trade show floor. PACK EXPO East’s opening day wound down with a Taste of Philly reception, o ering attendees and exhibitors the opportunity to continue show floor discussions over drinks and regional foods. Young professionals in packaging and processing connected during PMMI’s Young Professionals Networking Reception at SPIN Philadelphia. A highlight of the show’s second day came after show hours as well when 170 industry professionals gathered for the Packaging and Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) networking event.
Throughout the show, PACK EXPO East exhibitors reiterated that the right people were at this show, ready to do business. Few exhibitors left Philadelphia as happy as Point Five Packaging, which was able to complete a sale right on the show floor. And EAMVision sales manager Steve Polley believes PACK EXPO East 2022 was the best one yet. “EAMVision had more leads at this show and more all-around quality engagement with attendees than at PACK EXPO East two and even four years ago,” Polley says.
Attendees also enjoyed returning to PACK EXPO East, noting the convenient access from points up and down the Northeast corridor. Laura Kershaw, packaging engineer for Hungryroot, traveled from New York City in search of a printing and labeling solution that would ease the hand-labeling load for the online grocery delivery service.
Throughout the three days, accessible education on the show floor provided attendees and exhibitors alike with potential solutions, best practices, and industry breakthroughs on the Innovation Stage. The Forum was standing room only with free interactive sessions on the latest industry trends. Content from the Innovation Stage sessions will be available online via PACK EXPO Xpress (www.packexpoxpress.com) through April 29. Additionally, view contact information, product information, and more from the companies who exhibited at PACK EXPO East.
PMMI heads to Mexico City for the next event in the PACK EXPO portfolio, EXPO PACK México 2022 (June 14-17; Expo Santa Fe). For more information and to register, visit www.expopackmexico. com.mx. Registration is also o cially open for PACK EXPO International’s return to Chicago, Oct. 23-26. For more information and to register, visit www.packexpointernational.com.
