Danish Crown opens first factory in China

Danish pork processor Danish Crown opened its first meat factory in China last week. The factory is located near Shanghai, is more than 17.000 m² large and will annually produce about 14.000 tons of fresh and processed products.

In a statement, Danish Crown said the expansion to China fits in with its strategy to establish a strong brand in Asia. "Building an entire factory to supply only 1 city may sound extreme, but more than 24 million people live in Shanghai alone. In a radius of 200 kilometers around the factory, approximately 80 million people live. By comparison: this is almost the total population of Germany", explains Niels Knudsen, the director of the activities of Danish Crown in China.

Growth ambitions
If the meat processor succeeds in becoming a successful brand in China in the long run, it has plans to build similar factories near other major cities within a few years. "Due to the high cost price in Denmark, we have to sell our (meat) products at a better price than our European competitors. With the factory in China we have a competitive advantage," writes Jais Valeur, the CEO of Danish Crown, in a statement.

In addition, the Danish meat processor also cooperates with Alibaba. This retail chain (both online and offline) has already obtained the right to buy everything Danish Crown produces in the new factory for the next 5 years.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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