The FINANCIAL — The success story of Georgian meat producing company Nikora started 20 years ago and continues today.
Sustainable development, permanent expansion, implementation as well as introduction of new skills and novelties are the factors that have brought Nikora yet another Golden Brand award.
“This is a company which is never satisfied with its achievements. High quality products, a diverse assortment range, convergence of price and value, and permanent dialogue with society are what encourages the trust and loyalty of Nikora’s customers,” said Irakli Bokolishvili, Director General at JSC Nikora.
In his words, Nikora’s meat products are very popular among Georgians as the products meet the taste parameters of customers.
“The fact that a business that originally started with just two sorts of sausage today provides over 100 different products, proves once more how popular a brand Nikora is. Also, it is worth noting that the number of Nikora supermarkets has reached 230 as of today and the company is continuing to grow further,” he added.
Q. What are the future plans of Nikora?
A. In general, every brand under the Nikora Holding umbrella does its best to offer novelties, more choice, and the best products to customers. We are constantly improving our assortment and making it more diverse.
At this stage a special novelty is to offer Nikora’s products in modified atmosphere packaging in order to extend the shelf life of its fresh meat products. So far Nikora meat products in modified atmosphere packaging are available in only several Nikora supermarkets, but will soon be for sale in every supermarket chain of Georgia.
Q. Let’s talk about modified atmosphere packaging. What is its advantage?
A. First of all, it should be noted that the price of the packed product is identical to the price of the sold-by-weight products. By offering packaged products we guarantee more comfort for customers.
It is important that the packaging of the product maximally helps to maintain the taste of the products.
Packaged production is highly protected – at every stage, so additional human impact is excluded.
All the tangible features are maintained.
It’s much easier to store and go. The new packaging is comfortable and practical, customised for consumption in diverse situations.
Step by step, the whole range of Nikora’s production will be packaged in such a way.
Q. Which meat products are most in demand on the market and why? Also, how much is the company’s sales growth and what is Nikora’s share of the market as of today?
A. The sausage types ‘Rdziani’ and ‘Iveria’ are the most in-demand in Georgia. Their delicious taste as well as the ease of cooking these products are what makes them very popular. Because it is easy to cook sausages and wieners, they are often offered to guests when people have their friends over to visit.
In general Nikora’s sales increased by 25.54 percent in 2017 compared to 2018, while the consolidated sales figure of the companies in the Nikora Holding totalled GEL 355 million.
As of today, Nikora has a 40 percent share of the market in Georgia.
Q. How are the meat products of Nikora being produced and where are the raw materials imported from?
A. Due to the fact that there are no large-scale farms in Georgia, local producers have to import raw materials from abroad. Unfortunately, in Georgia there still does not exist farming which can sufficiently provide raw materials on such a scale as Nikora requires. While choosing the raw materials we pay attention to whether or not the farm is certified; whether or not it has a quality management system; and whether or not it has been proved in a laboratory that the quality and the safety of the product is reliable.
In addition, the Georgian Veterinary Service also monitors whether or not it is allowed to import the raw materials from a given specific region.
The factories with which Nikora cooperates have many years of experience and their production is allowed to be imported to the US and European markets.
As all the stages of production are strictly monitored, we are confident in the final product. However, in order to meet consumers’ interests we periodically check the finished product as well before selling or distributing to the end-user.
The high standards of manufacturing and high level of professionalism of the staff are very important, plus the modern technologies.
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Nikora is one of the leading food producing companies on the Georgian market, founded back in 1998 it produces everyone’s favourite sausages ‘Rdziani’ and ‘Iveria’. The company produces up to 100 meat products.
Enterprise ‘Nikora’s Meat Product’ is under the Nikora Holding umbrella. The Holding unites a number of brands which produce different food products including half-finished products, fish, dairy products, ice-cream, bread, salads, frozen confectionary and wine – the producers of which are merged together at Nikora Holding. The company is also actively engaged in the import of well-known products from authoritative foreign factories to produce its own foodstuffs, as there is an absence of the necessary farming products needed for local production in the country.
Nikora Holding is also one of the largest employers in the country. More than 4,500 people work at the company and this number is growing proportionally to the company’s development.
Nikora is one of the top Georgian food producing companies, which for many years has held ISO 9001: 2008; ISO 22000: 2005 – НАССР certificates, and in production, as well as in management, fully respects internationally-recognised quality control and food safety rules and standards.
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