Efko Group to invest over 40 bln rubles in production in 2025

MOSCOW. July 2 (Interfax) - Efko Group, one of Russia's largest food producers, plans to increase investment in its business to more than 40 billion rubles this year.

"Last year we had 30 billion rubles of investment, half [spent] on innovation and half on the classic food business. This year the plan is more than 40 billion rubles," company chairman Valery Kustov said at a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Wednesday.

He said the company's sales grew by 20% last year. "I'm confident that this year it will be even significantly more," he added.

Asked by the prime minister about the development of the company's biotech business and introduction of innovative products, Kustov said Efko has developed several new technologies recently, some of which are aimed at import substitution, specifically in production of feed enzymes.

"But what was real interesting was a proposal to solve the problem of fighting diabetes. It was proposed that sugar be replaced by sweet proteins. These are products that generate the sensation of sweetness, but do not cause an insulin response," Kustov said.

The company has already secured a certificate to sell sweet proteins in Persian Gulf countries. "If we replace even 10% of sugar with our proteins, this is already billions in export revenue," Kustov said.

Mishustin asked if this product differs greatly from sugar. "No, since in addition to developing process lines for production of sweet protein itself, it was also necessary to develop technology to product candies, because we believe there shouldn't be any consumer compromises. The taste is not only indistinguishable, many even like it more," Kustov said.

"This needs to be talked about more. It seems to me that there are very many people who are looking for an alternative to sugar or its application," Mishustin said.

A plant to make this product, investment in which totalled 12 billion rubles, will be opened at the end of the year and a commercial program to sell it is now being drawn up. At this stage, the protein is being produced on pilot lines.

Kustov also said the company is interested in producing biosynthesized fats. "This is not yet a project at the level of maturity of sweet protein. But, in principle, we believe that it's possible to cover imports of cocoa butter when it comes to 2026, because cocoa butter is a fairly expensive product and biosynthesized cocoa butter is already cheaper. In other words, this is biotechnology, which is genuinely cost effective," he said.

Efko specializes in processing oil crops, including sunflower, soybeans and rapeseed, and producing bottled oils, fats and margarines, mayonnaise and ketchup. The company's production facilities, which are located in the Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk and Sverdlovsk regions, Krasnodar Territory and Kazakhstan, have the capacity to process over 4.5 million tonnes of oil crops annually.

The company is diversifying its business through its innovation center, developing plant-based meat and dairy products under the Hi! brand, and venture capital investments in foodtech and biotech.