EkoNiva Group, one of the largest vertically integrated holdings in Russia, is planning to considerably increase its exports. Within the next few years, the company is planning to start dairy exports to the Middle East countries and become an important supplier of niche pulse crops, including lentils, in this region.
EkoNiva is the largest raw milk producer in Europe and one of the top three in the world. The company is also active in the milk processing sector. The product portfolio includes whole milk and fermented dairy products, curds, quark desserts, yoghurt, ice cream, semi-hard and hard cheese. All products are made in Russia.
Since 2020, the company has been developing export. EKONIVA milk with different fat content is already supplied to China. Negotiations are underway to arrange a halal audit of the company’s operations in Kaluga and Voronezh oblasts to ensure compliance with the Islamic dietary law.
Besides, the Company is implementing a large investment project in Novosibirsk oblast involving the construction of the largest dairy plant in the country with a processing capacity of 1,150 tons of raw milk per day. The plant will produce high-quality dairy products and cheese for the domestic and global markets. The Middle East countries are particularly interesting to the company in terms of export potential.
‘The Middle East countries traditionally have a high demand for superior-quality natural fermented dairy products. The demand for high-protein foods is also growing at a double-digit rate. EkoNiva can offer these products to the customers from this region. Vertical integration allows the company to guarantee the quality of its products at every stage: from the field to the shop shelf’, says Stefan Duerr, EkoNiva Group President.
EkoNiva is also one of the Russian agricultural market leaders. The company is the largest producer, distributor and seller of Canadian varieties of red lentils seeds. In 2021, EkoNiva produced over 17,000 tons of lentils – four times more than in the previous year.
Currently, the company supplies commercial lentils to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Pakistan. In 2022, EkoNiva Group intends to continue expanding exports of lentils and other pulse crops.
COMPANY INFO
The vertically integrated holding EkoNiva is the largest raw milk producer in Russia and Europe. Forty modern dairy farms of the company operate in 13 regions of Russia. The total herd is approx. 216,000 head, including 112,000 dairy cows. In 2021, the overall raw milk yield exceeded 1.1 mln tons. EkoNiva is one of the 5 largest farmland owners. The land bank of the company is 630,000 ha. Since 2013, EkoNiva has been developing milk processing. The company produces EKONIVA traditional dairy, hard cheese Dürr, EKONIVA Organic milk, EKONIVA Professional Line milk and cream for the HoReCa sector at five milk processing plants in Voronezh, Kaluga and Novosibirsk oblasts.
