Cherkizovo Group speeds up product delivery to China

Cherkizovo Group, Russia’s largest meat producer, this week has made its first shipment of chicken products to China in refrigerated rail containers. This route will be an alternative to sea shipping, enabling the Company to deliver its products to Chinese customers three times faster, in 15 days instead of 45.

A refrigerated container train carrying Russian meat products left the Selyatino Agricultural Hub in the Moscow Region for Chengdu, Sichuan, China, on Wednesday, April 26. Cherkizovo Group’s products took up two of the 30 containers, with 50 tonnes of Category A chicken feet, the Company’s main export product for the Chinese market. The consignee is a major local poultry processor. This delivery also became a reality thanks to the support of the Russian Export Center (REC).

It will take the products up to 15 days to reach the destination by rail route Selyatino—Chengdu, about three times faster than shipping by sea via the ports of the Far East. Starting in June, three trains are expected to go to China each month, and the number of containers will increase from 30 to 41.

«So far, these are pilot shipments, but the Company is certainly interested in developing direct rail routes to China as an alternative to more complicated and longer logistics using the sea route. Trains save time and deliver products right to the customer’s premises. We estimate that in the first year rail shipments may take up to 10% of our total exports to China,» says Elena Volgusheva, Exports Director at Cherkizovo Trade House.

China is Cherkizovo Group’s key export market where the Company has been since 2019. In 2022, the Company supplied some 40,000 tonnes of chicken and turkey to the PRC. Currently, Cherkizovo’s poultry exports to China are mostly focused on B2B customers (Cherkizovo 77 brand), but the Company looks to expand its presence in the B2C channel as well with supplies to retail chains and wholesalers, including e-commerce, and the government’s support could be of great use for this purpose.

«Cherkizovo Group is a key client of the Russian Export Center, and we regularly provide the Company with various kinds of non-financial and financial support that helps promote its exports, including by reducing the delivery time,» says Ruslan Tsargush, Director for the Support of Export of the Agro-Industrial Complex at the Russian Export Center.