Romanian Meat Processor Boosts Sales Following VAT Cut
ROMANIA - Romanian meat processor Vascar S.A. increased its meat products sales by 34 per cent and its sales of canned meat by 43 per cent in the first four months of this year. Company representatives says that this is largely due to last year’s decision by the country’s cabinet to decrease the value-added tax (VAT) on meat and processed meat products, writes Jaroslaw Adamowski.
6 June 2016
3 minute read
By: “Reducing the VAT… from 24 per cent to 9 per cent resulted, on the one hand, with encouraging customers to buy high-quality products, and, on the other hand, with an increase in sales,” Vlad Ciuburciu, the marketing director at Vascar, told local business daily Ziarul Financiar.
The VAT cut was designed by the country’s government in a bid to bolster Romania’s meat consumption and combat tax evasion by local industry players.
The Romanian firm specialises in processing pork meat, but its range also includes processed poultry meat products. More specifically, Vascar’s portfolio consists of salami, pates, frankfurters and other processed pork meat products, according to data from the company. In 2015, Vascar posted revenues of about RON 65 million (€14.4 million).
Last year, the company unveiled plans to double its output capacity by 2017 and reach sales revenues of some RON 130 million (€28.8 million). This will be accompanied by the expansion by the company’s existing retail network of 20 stores in Romania by five new outlets per year, company representatives said.
A significant share of the company's output is also supplied to major retailers such as Kaufland, Carrefour, Mega Image and Lidl which sell Vascar's meat under their own brands.
Vascar’s production facility in Vaslui, in Romania’s eastern part, is currently operated by more than 300 workers. Set up in 1984, the meat processor also owns a branch in neighbouring Moldova, and it is owned by Romania’s Ciuburciu family.
