Group of companies Ekoniva plans to start supplying dairy products to the Saudi Arabian market

‘Group of companies Ekoniva is working on the possibility of exporting products to Saudi Arabia,’ said the interlocutor of the agency.

The company is currently working on the possibility of auditing the processes of the group's enterprises in Kaluga and Voronezh regions for compliance with the canons of Islam and obtaining a halal certificate, said Stefan Durr, President of Group of companies Ekoniva, on Wednesday during the World Food Forum exhibition. According to him, one of the most promising areas for export of dairy products is the countries of the Middle East.

‘There is traditionally a high demand for natural, high-quality fermented milk products of the premium segment, and in recent years, products with a high protein content have shown double-digit growth rates. Ekoniva can offer all this to buyers of the Middle East region,’ explained Durr.

He added that Ekoniva began to export dairy products in the summer of 2020, and the first export country was China, which buys ultra-pasteurized milk. In January-June 2021, the group increased exports of finished dairy products six times in both physical and monetary terms compared to July - December 2020.

According to Durr, Ekoniva sees a huge potential in the development of the export direction. ‘On the one hand, this provides additional protection against currency fluctuations and volatility in the raw milk market, on the other hand, it opens up new sales markets,’ noted the president of Ekoniva.

The vertically integrated Holding Ekoniva manages assets in 13 Russian regions. In 2020, almost 925 thousand tons of raw milk were produced at Ekoniva enterprises.  

The holding is one of the five largest owners of agricultural land with 630 thousand hectares.