Cherkizovo opens smoked sausage plant in Kashira, Russia

Russian meat producer Cherkizovo Group has officially opened its fully automated smoked sausage plant near Kashira.

The new smoked sausage plant is noted to be equipped with latest technologies and its production chain is supported by robots without the need for human input.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeyev said: “Despite being a highly diversified and urbanised area, the Moscow region places a special emphasis on supporting and investing in its agricultural sector.

“It comes as no surprise, as it has all the opportunities to bring significant upgrades to the industry.

“Today we are opening a unique facility, an advanced meat processing plant set to become a powerful driver for Russia’s agriculture, and a showcase for achievements of the national food industry.”

The new facility has been designed to produce up to 30,000t of finished products per year, which is expected to account for 30% of all smoked sausage produced in Russia.

It will employ a total of 170 personnel and features machinery from Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the UK.

Cherkizovo Group founder Igor Babaev said: “The project went through a lot of modifications to finally materialise in this plant.

“Today we see here a powerful production facility that has no equals globally and inspires a sense of national pride.

“With nearly one million tonnes (Mt) of meat produced last year, we are the leading player in Russia’s meat industry.

“Now we are seeking to process the produced meat at large-scale manufacturing facilities similar to the one we built in Kashira.”

The site uses the latest enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP S4\HANA, which offers complete automation for production, financial, procurement, planning and sales activities.

The Russian meat firm has also been making regular investments in capacity expansion as part of its ongoing growth strategy.