From Poland to the rest of Europe  

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Agro-Polska’s range extends to over 4 200 products, which are supplied to approximately 600 customers throughout Europe. “Thanks to our central warehouse in Kraków, in the middle of Europe, we can continue to expand our exports considerably,” comments general manager Grzegorz Wolski. To assist him in this task he has a sales team that speaks English, French and German in addition to Polish.The company was founded in 1991 by Arnaud Chevallier. Operating from premises covering 300 m², it started out manufacturing timber products for small mammals and birds. Five years later, the production plant was enlarged to 1 000 m², and metal cages produced in-house for birds and rodents were added to the product range. Another four years down the line, just after the start of the new millennium, Agro Polska added fish bowls to its repertoire. The current high point of expansion for the company came in 2007, however: “Relocating to a modern factory enabled us to bring all our operations together in one location,” recounts Grzegorz Wolski. “The procurement of two production facilities for cages also made it possible to increase the production capacity markedly. And the company will acquire a further logistics hall by the end of the year.”
Bird houses are a growth segmentThe production of wooden houses for wild birds is one of the fastest-growing segments of the company. Where the finished products were once packed in boxes, they are now supplied on half-size pallets, making them more attractive to retailers and customers and making presentation easier.Bird and rodent cages had to be updated too: “The cages now have bottoms with very attractive forms and the sets include accessories,” says Grzegorz Wolski. He says that the packaging has also been modernised and is in new colours, with new descriptions in several languages. To meet customer requests, these are put together on pallets and can thus be placed directly in the retail area. The effectiveness of Polish production is described by Grzegorz Wolski with the aid of an example: “Our production capacities have enabled us to capture a part of the market from Chinese competition, as shown by the 6 000 cages supplied for a promotion in Germany.”Agro-Polska’s range also includes a large number of private label products. “Our clients are small stores, wholesalers and hypermarkets,” comments Grzegorz Wolski. “Products bearing the brand of the clients enable us to be…