«Diamond» Holding: Our principle is only Russian!

The sales director of the «Diamond» Holding Sergey G. Bublik shared reasons for the successful promotion of brands in the market in an interview with the special journal «Business capital»of the food industry, equipment and HORECA.

Business Capital: Sergey G., how did the idea arise to develop this area?

SG Bublik: Originally, «Diamond» started out in the alcohol industry. At some point, the leadership decided to stretch our brands in a new direction. And as a result of intelligence, market research, we concluded that the market for fruit and vegetable preservation is quite high in demand.

Studies had also shown that the Russian consumption of canned food per capita is 6.7 kg per year, while in Europe - 15-17 kg. Understanding that in Russia, there is an active refusal of the population from the culture of home canning and in the near future, we will come closer to the European volume of consumption. We concluded that the market will grow, and it is so promising! When we chose a brand name, we wanted that it caused positive associations among Russians, something native, something Russian ... and we thought about the bright colors of summer sun. So a new brand was born in September 2012 – «SPELO-ZRELO».

The main categories of conservation – they are legumes (peas, corn, beans), pickle products, Canned berry, Canned mushroom, which are produced according to original recipes in the south of Russia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Krasnodar, Astrakhan region, and other regions of Russia. Our pride – the 5 types of sauces, «Caucasian» subjects: Georgian sauce, tkemali, adjika, ketchup on the Abkhaz recipes.

Business Capital: When you came to the market, wasn't the market saturated enough and was there any fierce competition...?

СSG Bublik: Absolutely. In 2012, when we started supplying the products of the brand »SPELO-ZRELO», the competition was very high. At that same time, what did we see on the shelves? Mushrooms from China, Cucumbers from Vietnam or India. Not every Russian consumer likes the recipes from which they were prepared. Our products are from fresh vegetables and fruit - mainly from the Krasnodar Territory and Kabardino-Balkaria.

In this sense, in the product line there is only one exception that proves the rule - canned pineapple.

We initially developed a strategy to gain the market and in order to do that we had to develop our own unique recipes and further brand promotion. At the same time, we were carefully monitoring the observance of the recipe, controlling the quality of products. In general, we can say that we place the orders for the production of products under our brand in the most successful factories, where product quality is guaranteed.

Business Capital: Who develops the recipes?

SG Bublik: Many of the recipes have been developed by technologists of our holding who brought perfection to the factories. By the way, the factories of Kabardino-Balkaria, are well recognized leaders in the production of domestic pickles and are always looking for new experiments. This kind of work is interesting for them.

Business Capital: What are some common principles and approaches for the production of the brand »SPELO-ZRELO»?

SG Bublik: Yes, of course. All our products are manufactured according to the good old Soviet state standards, confirmed by all necessary certificates and factory documentation. Of course, it is performed without chemical additives and dyes.

Business Capital: Such principles should be highly appreciated by the consumer.

SG Bublik: So it is. For 4 years the brand »SPELO-ZRELO»has reached great success. Today it is recognized and is a leader of many regions of Russia, such as the - Republic of Crimea, Rostov, Irkutsk, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk region. Our medium-term goal for the next 2-3 years is to become one of the five market leaders in fruit and vegetable preservation. Of course, one of the main components of success is our team. Initially, we did not have any experience to work with conservation, but for several years a great team was assembled, all employees are highly motivated, passionate about their work and focused on results.