POLAND
Mirko has repositioned the traditional marinated herring
Modern and health-oriented combinations make herring a gourmet product Mirko, a family-owned company from Pomerania established in 1995, specialises in herring products, but also produces other ďŹ sh and seafood items. While traditional recipes lie behind many of the products, the company has also been experimenting with new and unusual ingredients.
M
arinated herring with cranberries, peach, or coriander seeds are some of the new and innovative combinations that Mirko has launched in a bid to get consumers to rethink a traditional Polish favourite, marinated herring. In the process of developing new tastes none of the old virtues – top quality raw materials, hand-made products, flexibility and service, have been forgotten.
Regular investments for an ultra-modern facility The Krasnoborski family that owns Mirko plays an active role in running the company as well. Members of the family are in place as the CEO, quality control,
production and marketing. The company started in Slupsk, but shortly afterwards, when EU funding became available it established a facility in the nearby town of Globino in 2002. Around that time the company formulated a strategic plan that sought to make investments in the company every few years. As a result, says Jan Krasnoborski, the production manager, starting in 2002 investments were made in the company in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, and are planned again for 2018. These funds are used to modernise the company, introduce new technology and infrastructure so that the facilities are always state-of-theart. Today the plant is 12,500 sq. m, and these regular infusions of capital have helped cement the
These herring products give a complete makeover to that traditional Polish favourite, marinated herring.
Jan Krasnoborski and his father, Bogusław Krasnoborski, play leading roles in the company the Krasnoborski family established 23 years ago.
perception that Mirko is a manufacturer of premium herring products – hand-made, attractively decorated, and contained in modern packaging.
imitation is a form of flattery, and it vindicates our efforts over the last couple of years to create these innovative products and find a market for them.
The market niche that the company addresses with its products is consumers that are looking for something new and different, but not radically so. This is not easy on the Polish market, where most consumers are fairly traditional in their approach and are reluctant to experiment. But after three years the company feels it has made progress with its products, so much so that other companies in the same field are now emulating its approach. This is inevitable says Mr Krasnoborski, but
Own-brand as well as private label production The investments over the last 15 years were aimed at improving the quality, automating some of the processes, and expanding the product portfolio. Apart from benefiting the manufacture of their own branded products, it also convinced other companies to use Mirko’s facilities for contract manufacturing. Thus, Mirko diversified into packaging fresh fish in collaboration with another
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