Kampomos, a subsidiary of pan-European meat processor Campofrio, said it had launched a new range of premium 'meat medallions' in the convenience food category - a segment rising 15 per cent annually in Russia, according to analysts.
It said vacuum packaging gave the medallions a 30-day shelf-life, enabling the firm to move into fresh meat sector for the first time.
"Our research has shown that consumers prefer fresh products because the frozen ones lose their taste and sustenance. Our customers also don't want to defrost products as this loses them valuable time," said product manager Anastasia Bogush.
The target audience for Kampomos' new medallions is working men and women (both singe and married) aged between 25 and 45 years with an income of around RUB12,000 (€334) - the higher end of the Russian market.
Besides freshness, the company said it had added value to the products by using newly bought slicing machinery to give the medallions wavy edges. This, it claims, prevents them from burning and retains more juice for added flavour and texture.
The medallions are set to be the start of a whole new range of high margin Kampomos meats, which the firm hopes will insulate against rising cost pressures and losses on other products.
Russian meat prices doubled in 2004 after having risen 30 per cent the year before, and another domestic firm, Mikoyan, told www.Cee-FoodIndustry.com that this had hampered development in the sector.
Accordingly, companies are launching more products in the middle and upper price segments. These categories currently control around 26 per cent of the Russian meat sector but are forecast to have 30 per cent by 2006.
Analysts said Kampomos could increase its income by €232,000 compared with 2004 through sales of its new medallion product. They added that this would enable the firm to increase its market share in Moscow by 1.5-2 per cent.
Kampomos also hopes to exploit what it sees as a need for more diversity on the Russian meat market.
For example, the market for traditional sausage, including boiled sausage and frankfurters, is almost saturated. About 80 per cent of the population already consumes these products and the segment is only creeping forward by about one or two per cent per year.
Analysts now predict Russian meat innovation will rise by five or six per cent annually. This will likely be driven by richer urban consumers demanding new product varieties, but markets in poorer communities should also benefit from a government social and economic development plan to increase average meat consumption from 50kg per person to 78-80Kg.
Kampomos will sell the medallions in four flavours - classic, cheese, paprika and mushroom - and in packs of two. It plans to launch more high margin fresh products later this year.
The company, founded in 1990, is one of Moscow's top three meat-processors in volume terms, and has a seven per cent value share of the market there. The firm produces 45,000 tons of meat and sausage products per month, helping it to sales of €96.3 million in 2004.
KampoMos' owner, Campofrio, uses 18 factories to manufacture meat and sausage products in five European countries. It has invested roughly €69.5 million in Kampomos since it was founded.