Description of activity

ZPC „SKAWA” S.A. specializes in the manufacture of chocolate coated and non-chocolate dragees and wafers. The sales value of these product ranges amounts to approx. 80% of the total sales. The other product ranges include gingerbread and biscuits. The company sales nearly 15 thousand tonnes of products annually with the value exceeding PLN 100 million, 25% of which are export sales. In the domestic market, about 70% of the product volume is sold in the traditional sales channel, i.e. through more than 100 distributors – private wholesalers, and the other 30% is delivered directly to 15 trade networks operating regionally and all over the country. The company exports its products to EU countries, such as Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and to countries outside the EU (70-80%), such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Canada, Yemen, Ukraine and Mongolia. Due to the type of its business activity the material procurement is dominated by purchases of sugar, flour and fat that constitute 70% of the value of all purchased ingredients. These ingredient are purchased almost exclusively on the Polish market. Packaging materials are also supplied mainly by the domestic suppliers. The company’s main objectives for the coming years include an increase in the domestic sales and cut in the export sales due to their unprofitability. Investment projects are aimed at lowering the labour consumption of production processes, especially of packaging processes. There are many entities operating on the Polish confectionery market, with nearly 150 of them employing more than 50 people. The other 800 entities are considerably smaller. After many mergers and strategic tie-ups in the years 1997-1999 the sweets market has stabilized. Jutrzenka and Cadbury Wedel are the key players on the confectionery market. The annual sales revenues of these companies are estimated at approx. PLN 1 billion each. Their share in the market is estimated at the level 11.5% (each of them).