POLAND
BMC - What you see is what you get!
Graduating from trading to processing Best Marketing Concept, or BMC as it is currently known, started 25 years ago as a small, family-owned company trading mostly fish products. Within a few years, the political situation in Poland would change the company’s future.
P
oland’s political transition at the end of the 1980s affected many companies. Many of the country’s fish processors were unable to come to grips with the adjustments and were forced into bankruptcy. This was also the case in the Baltic Sea region, where BMC was doing business. As a growing number of companies, whose products BMC was trading, went out of business, BMC had to develop a plan to secure its own survival. An opportunity lay ahead, because the company knew that the market for processed fish products was still robust, with strong demand from its buyers. So, the company made the strategic decision to venture into the processing business. According to Jerzy Szczepankowski, managing director of BMC, “Obviously substantial investments in equipment and machinery had to be made and, at the start, hiring and managing personnel were also difficult. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea and we should have just continued trading,” he says with a modest smile. In 1993, the first can was produced with the BMC brand, and the company hasn’t looked back. Today, the company has a complete processing plant in Władysławowo on the shore of the Baltic Sea, approximately 40 km north of Gdynia. It employs 150 people, 40
Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2013
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with the number increasing to 200 during seasonal peaks. Production stands at between 50,000 and 100,000 cans of fish, divided into approximately 60 different products in 10 different types of cans. The products are primarily sold under the “BMC” and “Baltica” labels. The main species include sprat, mackerel, and herring, but several other fish, such as salmon, tuna, trout, flounder, and carp, feature in smaller productions. “Our turnover is up to USD 1 million (EUR 750.000) per month”, says Jerzy, “and 90 of our products are packaged at weighing stations by hand to assure that the right amount of fish is provided”.
Raw materials from Poland and the world BMC has two major local suppliers of raw materials primarily for herring and sprat, and several smaller companies for specific species and for general availability. Mackerel and Atlantic herring are usually purchased abroad, and the company buys raw materials from Scandinavia, Ireland, Iceland, China, and Canada. “When fish of good quality is accessible at a reasonable price, we buy it. The source does not matter," says Mr Szczepankowski. A small shop next to the BMC factory sells its products to the local community, but
Jerzy Szczepankowski, the Managing Director of BMC takes pride in delivering quality products.
most products are distributed throughout Poland by a network of wholesalers, and are available in many supermarket chains. A few export adventures have also been tried in Ireland, England, and China, but these were more as prestige projects than for profit.
Revenue is invested Mr Szczepankowski, “We have a principle that everything generated by the company stays in the company. We try to invest our earnings to maintain, develop, and modernise the company. This is a family business and we want to see it grow”. Lack of funding, however, is always an issue, he explains.
Another issue of concern is the everpresent challenge of sourcing fish. For example, he points to the current situation with mackerel, which is difficult because stocks from last year are running low and the new season has barely started. “We are eagerly waiting for new deliveries of mackerel”, he says. “The sellers know that this is the situation for everyone and are therefore increasing prices. Not an optimal situation for us”.
Diversifying in a competitive market The Polish market for canned fish is very competitive, with pressure from buyers for lower prices. Several initiatives have therefore been taken to produce alternative products that stand out. Last year, BMC www.eurofishmagazine.com
05/12/13 1:04 PM