Magnit Launches its First Citrus Packaging Line in Novorossiysk

By the high New Year season, the Company is planning to open a citrus packaging department in its Novorossiysk distribution center and thus reduce the number of logistics operations with fresh products. This will extend the shelf life of the goods, shorten the time it takes to deliver them to customers, and reduce the Company's packaging costs by about 20% per year.

Krasnodar, Russia (August 20, 2020): The opening of citrus packaging lines is part of the Retail Chain's strategy to improve the freshness of its products. The distribution center (DC) in Novorossiysk is Magnit’s main hub for imported oranges, tangerines and grapefruits. It provides about 60% of the supply of these products, delivered mainly from Turkey and Egypt, to the Chain's stores. Having its own packaging department will enable the Company to expand its offering of packaged fresh fruits.

Starting from December 2020, the Company plans to have most of the citrus fruits under the brand names Magnit Freshness and My Price packed in net bags on its in-house production lines. When it reaches its full capacity, the packaging department will work virtually around the clock and process up to 80 tons of products every day. When the citrus season ends in the importing countries, the lines will be used for packing vegetables, such as onions.

Until now, Magnit’s citrus packaging took place at third-party facilities, which made the logistics more complicated, reduced the lifetime of goods, as well as increased the cost price. Establishment of an in-house packaging department will help decrease the pressure on logistics, control the quality of goods better, and cut down on operating expenses.

“Increasing the freshness of goods on the shelf is a single end-to-end process that covers not only deliveries across Russia, but also the direction of the company's import. With the launch of the packaging line, we will optimize logistics operations and will be able to better manage the quality and freshness of fruits and vegetables. In the future, the assortment for packaging can be expanded,” — said Vyacheslav Krasnoyarov, Director for In-House Production at Magnit Retail Chain.