ABP in Poland: how big is it?

For a company with huge reach in international markets, Poland is a perfect source of beef for ABP.

Phelim O'Neill

8 April 2020

Larry Goodman and his son Lawrence with the celebrity chef Ansley Harriott on the ABP stand at RUAS Balmoral in 2012.

ABP bought its first factory in Pniewy, which is in western Poland, in 2011.

This was followed by a second factory 30km away in Klosowice in 2014, and subsequently by a third factory in Tykocin, northeastern Poland, in 2016.

The company has replicated its factory model from Ireland and the UK in Poland and has an estimated slaughter capacity of about 5,000 cattle per week. Poland produced an estimated 555,000t of beef in 2019 but, with small domestic consumption of 3.5kg per person, some 410,000t of Polish beef was exported (USDA FAS).

Exports

Its main export markets for beef are Italy and Germany, and Polish beef competes with Dutch as the second most-preferred supplier of imported beef to the UK, after Ireland.

Similar to Ireland, success in beef processing in Poland requires an ability to develop export markets.

This makes ABP a perfect fit for the country, and for ABP, it has access to a cheaper supply of cattle than in Ireland and the UK to service price-sensitive customers.