A family company and international operations – how do you promote Polish production values and high quality abroad? Is Polish food appreciated in other countries?
Elena is a family enterprise active for more than 30 years. Throughout its operation, it has been putting enormous effort into the establishment of long-lasting relationships with customers and promotion of its brand as a strong Polish brand in Europe, as well as on global markets. Currently, it cooperates with almost 30 countries worldwide and is one of Europe’s largest enterprises involved in food processing technology. Its main advantages include the ready product quality, the plant capacity, and the possibility to lyophilize different raw materials, which entails a great amount of knowledge and experience. Concerning the latter, the company can call itself “unrivalled”. Factors affecting the achieved level include: investment in the improvement of technologies and operations, specialized personnel, as well as regular training in production and safety, which is a very important issue. For many years, the company has been maintaining its quality certificate, it is concerned about the plant’s development and cares for the environment. The enterprise holds the BRC, Organic and Kosher certificates and has the HACCP system in place. Recently, products for gluten-intolerant people have been put into production as well. 50% of the production reaches the markets in Europe and beyond, while the other 50% is directed towards the domestic market.
What makes lyophilized products distinct? Do they fit the current consumer trends?
The process of production of lyophilized raw materials, or freeze drying, is characterized by the composition of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients being preserved at 95-99%. This is achieved through freezing water out of them. The method is carried out under sterile conditions, with no additives or preservatives. Lyophilized fruit and vegetables are purified of bacteria which can be found in fresh raw materials. Such products can be termed as future-oriented, even if, due to a trend our population is following, we wish to travel into the extraterrestrial zone, according to global nutrition experts, this will be the healthiest kind of food for humans in such travels. Currently, we are heading into a direction in which an important thing is that “it is not enough to eat much to nourish your organism – you can eat less but those should be valuable doses to really nourish you.” This is the important difference between such products as ordinary dried fruit or vegetables and lyophilized ones.
One area of your operations is dietary supplements. How do current market trends and consumer requirements look like in this category?
For many years, Elena has been involved in the production of supplements, mainly based on fish collagen, we have also patented lyophilized collagen serving as support and prophylaxis to people wishing to preserve both their healthy skin appearance and flexible joints, as well as to delay the aging processes. Recently, we have also introduced other supplements, such as lyophilized chokeberry in capsules, Chanca Piedra infusion in capsules, or lyophilized celery, also in capsule form. All of these products are 100% natural, with no synthetic additives. They are available in a convenient form to be swallowed or dissolved in water. Introducing new supplements to the market, Elena follows not only trends but special customer needs. To survey such needs, the company utilizes individual conversations with its contractors, as well as questionnaires. With numerous TV interviews or speeches at conferences and fairs, they have opportunities to establish many contacts helping them find out what the needs of the interested people are. The employees have an individual approach to customers in order to match the products to their needs.
Thank you
Monika Książek
Elena is a family enterprise active for more than 30 years. Throughout its operation, it has been putting enormous effort into the establishment of long-lasting relationships with customers and promotion of its brand as a strong Polish brand in Europe, as well as on global markets. Currently, it cooperates with almost 30 countries worldwide and is one of Europe’s largest enterprises involved in food processing technology. Its main advantages include the ready product quality, the plant capacity, and the possibility to lyophilize different raw materials, which entails a great amount of knowledge and experience. Concerning the latter, the company can call itself “unrivalled”. Factors affecting the achieved level include: investment in the improvement of technologies and operations, specialized personnel, as well as regular training in production and safety, which is a very important issue. For many years, the company has been maintaining its quality certificate, it is concerned about the plant’s development and cares for the environment. The enterprise holds the BRC, Organic and Kosher certificates and has the HACCP system in place. Recently, products for gluten-intolerant people have been put into production as well. 50% of the production reaches the markets in Europe and beyond, while the other 50% is directed towards the domestic market.
What makes lyophilized products distinct? Do they fit the current consumer trends?
The process of production of lyophilized raw materials, or freeze drying, is characterized by the composition of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients being preserved at 95-99%. This is achieved through freezing water out of them. The method is carried out under sterile conditions, with no additives or preservatives. Lyophilized fruit and vegetables are purified of bacteria which can be found in fresh raw materials. Such products can be termed as future-oriented, even if, due to a trend our population is following, we wish to travel into the extraterrestrial zone, according to global nutrition experts, this will be the healthiest kind of food for humans in such travels. Currently, we are heading into a direction in which an important thing is that “it is not enough to eat much to nourish your organism – you can eat less but those should be valuable doses to really nourish you.” This is the important difference between such products as ordinary dried fruit or vegetables and lyophilized ones.
One area of your operations is dietary supplements. How do current market trends and consumer requirements look like in this category?
For many years, Elena has been involved in the production of supplements, mainly based on fish collagen, we have also patented lyophilized collagen serving as support and prophylaxis to people wishing to preserve both their healthy skin appearance and flexible joints, as well as to delay the aging processes. Recently, we have also introduced other supplements, such as lyophilized chokeberry in capsules, Chanca Piedra infusion in capsules, or lyophilized celery, also in capsule form. All of these products are 100% natural, with no synthetic additives. They are available in a convenient form to be swallowed or dissolved in water. Introducing new supplements to the market, Elena follows not only trends but special customer needs. To survey such needs, the company utilizes individual conversations with its contractors, as well as questionnaires. With numerous TV interviews or speeches at conferences and fairs, they have opportunities to establish many contacts helping them find out what the needs of the interested people are. The employees have an individual approach to customers in order to match the products to their needs.
Thank you
Monika Książek
