Cherkizovo Group takes part in the SPIEF business program

Cherkizovo Group, Russia’s largest meat producer, has participated in the business program of the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). The Company's representatives spoke at sessions dedicated to agricultural education and healthy eating and discussed cooperation opportunities with governments of several Russian regions.

The SPIEF business program featured events focused on the growth of the agricultural sector as well as food quality and safety, such as a panel discussion themed Past, Present and Future of Our Diet: The Role of Nutrition in Sustainable Development. Its participants, including Anna Popova, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), spoke of the influence that the business, in particular food manufacturers and restaurateurs, can have on consumer eating behavior.

In her presentation, Anastasia Mikhailova, Head of Communications at Cherkizovo Group, highlighted the Group's commitment to producing quality meat products and shaping the right eating habits. Cherkizovo has been a long-standing partner of Rospotrebnadzor's Healthy Eating project, staging joint contests and quizzes in social media, raising awareness of how to store and cook meat products properly, and engaging in-house experts that share their knowledge of balanced dieting.

“As basic dietary patterns are acquired early in life, we pay special attention to educating the younger generation, among other things by joining forces with popular bloggers. At the last year's Russian National Cuisines fest held at the Orlyonok children's camp, one of our brand chefs and blogger Valya Karnaval organized a workshop on how to cook a healthy burger with turkey, salad and vegetables,” said Anastasia Mikhailova. “Nurturing a habit of healthy eating became part of our project to revamp school canteens in Russian towns, which we run jointly with the Smenka social initiative. As part of revamps designed to create bright spaces with modern and comfortable interior, we furnish posters on the basics of healthy eating and wholesome foods to educate children in an easy and entertaining way.”

During the Agricultural Education and Science: Expanding Horizons session, Anastasia Mikhailova spoke about Cherkizovo's efforts to engage children, students, and their parents. These efforts seek to highlight that today's agriculture is a high-tech modern industry where one can fully unlock their potential, as illustrated by the Company's facilities.

“Across Russian regions, we started to launch agricultural classes to involve high schoolers in the industry, spotlight sought-after jobs, and, most importantly, guide students towards making informed decisions and achieving the results required by the Unified State Exam (USE) in subjects required for future agrarians. Though not very popular, biology, physics, and chemistry are all essential for process engineering, veterinarian, and engineering degrees. We also make efforts to reach out to parents and inform them about the sector's benefits, the care provided to employees, and the supportive social environment fostered by Cherkizovo,” added Anastasia Mikhailova.

In her speech, she also elaborated on cooperation with universities as regards an industry-specific training program which provides grants to first-year students against an obligation to be employed by one of Cherkizovo facilities. On top of that, the Company offers targeted education to its employees willing to develop professionally as well as their children to create working dynasties and a succession system.

On the sidelines of the SPIEF business program, Cherkizovo Group's management held a number of meetings with heads of the governments of Bashkortostan, the Penza, Tula, and Chelyabinsk regions to discuss investment plans in these geographies.