The Top Farms Group celebrates its 20-year anniversary in Poland. It began with a lease, and today it is also a significant agri-food processor.
Tomasz Zdziebkowski, president of the Top Farms Group, opened a ceremonial conference in Poznań summing up 20 years of the company's existence.
- We started in 1995 with the lease of approx. 2 thousand. ha. Today we have over 30,000 sq m on lease. ha. The mission of our group is to maintain the position of a leading producer of high-quality food, raw materials and products for agri-food processing. We also want to be a leader in the production of seed material for cereals and grasses and dairy cattle breeding - emphasized Zdziebkowski.
The company's activity is based on agricultural companies, processing, and a seed group. The model of the company is working on leased land, because the company - as Zdziebkowski pointed out - was not focused on the purchase of land.
The organizational structure of the company is very interesting. The following sections are separated: combine crops, vegetables and fruits, potatoes, fodder plants, animal production. This overlaps with the matrix use of support departments: mechanization, finance, administration and others. Each department has a lot of freedom in shaping its budget. It is very important - as emphasized by the president of Top Farms - to ensure a good flow of information between the company's units. Controlling and data analysis are well developed so that the obtained information can be used for the management process.
One may wonder why a company with such a large agricultural potential additionally entered processing and retail?
- On the one hand, the costs of means of production are constantly growing, and on the other, trade is consolidating. This causes the margin on agricultural production to decline. We must look for opportunities to improve profitability by mastering the so-called neighboring markets. That is why we produce 35 thousand. t of cereal seeds and 33 thousand. tons of grass seeds and 1 thousand. t of specialist seeds, 40 thousand. tons of frozen vegetables and 500 thousand. 1 liter of fruit and vegetable juices, and 50 million liters of milk from 4,000 cows - explained Tomasz Zdziebkowski.
Let us recall that the development of Top Farms was as follows: 1995 the company was founded. In 1996, a lease of 2098 ha in the town of Siedlisko. In 1999, the company took a lease in Głubczyce (12,092 ha) from the then State Treasury Agricultural Property Agency. Already in January 2001, the group buys 11,368 ha in Greater Poland from Agros (Gola and Czempiń). In 2010, Jagrol (1,500 ha) and Agro-Fundusz Mazury (4,000 ha) are taken over. In 2012, there is a lease in Piasty Wielkie on 817 ha. In 2013, the company purchased shares in Rolimpex Nasiona SA and shares in Mastfrost sp.z o.o. and ZPOW Ziębice sp.z o.o. In 2014, the lease of the area of Hodowli Kultury Zarodowych Prusiewo sp.z o.o. Pł
