São Paulo-based Brasil Foods (BRF) plans to start producing meat in China as part of an aggressive growth plan that could more than double annual net sales by 2030.
“To be a much more relevant player in China we need to increase local production,” said Patricio Rohner, BRF’s vice-president of international markets.
He noted BRF already operates in China through local partnerships in sales and distribution, adding that while the company does not rule out acquisitions in China, he would prefer to build the company’s own factory there.
“When you buy a rival, a local producer, they don’t have the portfolio that the younger consumers need,” he said.
BRF mainly serves the Chinese market via exports. But Rohner said that as China rebuilds its pork herd and since the pandemic has rattled global logistics, a local presence, as BRF has had for years in the Middle East, will be paramount.
BRF chief executive Lorival Luz said although higher prices pushed back the company’s plans to double operating profits by a year, selling more processed food products in Brazil and in markets like Turkey could help restore margins.
Other avenues of growth include investing to produce cultured meats, plant-based and pet products.
BRF also aims to become the second-largest Brazilian pet food company by 2025, according to executives who cited a 15-fold increase in production capacity after two acquisitions this year.
BRF generated approximately 46 billion reals (US$ 8.2 billion) in revenue in 2020, up from about 39 billion reals (US$ 6.9 billion) compared to the previous year, marking the highest gross sales since 2015.
BRF is one of the biggest food processors in the world, with over 30 brands in its portfolio, among them Sadia, Perdigão, Qualy, Paty, Dánica and Bocatti.
Its products are sold in over 150 countries, in all five continents.
More than 100,000 employees work at the company, which owns more than 50 factories in Argentina, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Thailand and Turkey.
Over 13,000 integrated producers supply BRF with fundamental ingredients like poultry and domestic pig, CLBrief reported.
