Bosnian Processor Builds Plant With Eye on Turkish Market

By Jaroslaw Adamowski – www.thecattlesite.com

 BOSNIA AND HERZOGOVINA – Bosnian meat processor Menprom has launched the 3100_construction staffconstruction works on a new facility in Gornja Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The move is related to the firm’s plans to boost its market presence abroad.

Under the plan, the new meat processing and packaging facility is to enable the Bosnian company to launch exports of meat to Turkey, with some 5,000 tonnes of meat per year intended for the Turkish market.

The investment in the new plant is estimated to be worth some BAM 6m (€3.1m), and Menprom will take on new workers to expand its output capacity. In total, along with the planned increase in workforce and exports, the project could be worth up to BAM 30m (€58.6m), the meat processor says.

“We will be the first company [in Bosnia and Herzegovina] to expand with packaged fresh meat in Turkey,” Mensur Ali, the owner of Menprom, told local daily Slobodna Bosnia.

The plant will process and package beef meat. Currently, Menprom hasa workforce of about 135, and it is expected to create a similar amount of new jobs in Gornja Tuzla.

The latest investment was unveiled following an official visit by Bego Guti, who heads the local government of the Tuzla county. Beti said the project could indirectly create as much as 2,000 new jobs in the fields of feed production, cattle breeding and other sectors.

Menprom firm is based in Gornja Tuzla, and it is specialised in processing poultry and beef meat. It is ISO 22000 and HACCP certified, and since 2008, it is also enabled to produce Halal meat, according to data from Menprom. The latter certificate could facilitate the company’s expansion to the Turkish market.

The firm says its product portfolio consists of ready meals, frankfurters, sausages, canned meat products, pates, salamis, hams and other products.