The Safir Group announced a turnover of €126 million for the fiscal year 2023, representing an increase of nearly 18% compared to the previous year's results. Investments made in 2023 exceeded €6.7 million, and the plan for the current year is to continue injecting funds into the business, especially for green technologies and the acquisition of new farms.

George Safir, who, along with his brother Iulian, leads the family business founded in 1945, explained the financial results: “The increase in turnover is due to our ability to offer the market high-quality, healthy chicken with known and trusted provenance. Additionally, our national distribution and the exports of the Zdravăn Moldovenesc product have significantly contributed to our turnover. Another important contribution to the Safir Group's turnover comes from the sale of combined feeds from our Nutriva factory.”

The context in which Familia Safir continues to grow to become the preferred chicken brand for Romanians is highly favorable. According to data from the World Population Review 2024, after pork (which Romanians consume at a rate of 34.5 kg per person per year—almost 3 kg per person per month), the next favorite meat is poultry, with a monthly consumption of almost 2 kg per person.

Furthermore, trends in the meat market show that Romanians increasingly choose premium products, prefer Romanian meat, and want to know its provenance. Analyzing the age category between 25 and 55 years, urban, with higher education and beyond, it is clear that when choosing poultry, these Romanians are concerned about how the chicken was raised—its diet, living environment, and lifespan—as well as how environmentally friendly the processing technologies in slaughterhouses and preparation factories are. The average time spent at the shelf by a person from the analyzed category—25-55 years, urban, higher education and beyond—is an average of 3 minutes (!), indicating thorough documentation and great attention to the producer and product details.

George Safir says that making Familia Safir the preferred chicken brand for Romanians is “our aspiration and, more importantly, a desire to offer the taste and texture of the meat that some of us still remember from our grandmother's yard. Many of those who regularly buy our chicken tell us when they enter our stores that 'from my yard or from Familia Safir, it's the same.'”

Investments and Focus on Reducing Carbon Footprint

George Safir announced this morning that “We have expanded the freezing capacity at the slaughterhouse, which is an investment of €1.4 million. Additionally, we are investing heavily in photovoltaic panels in factories and on farms; this year, €2.4 million currently being implemented.”

Compared to freon freezing, the liquid ammonia freezing system in which Familia Safir is investing is 25% more energy efficient and can freeze all types of products.

How a family business founded in 1945 can be brought to the European level

Familia Safir is a family business founded in 1945 with a tradition of entrepreneurship built around goodness. The business has been continuously developing for seven decades, spanning four generations, and has a significant impact in the Moldovan region, caring for the community it is part of (Vaslui County).

The Safir Group includes 4 companies, 8 farms (with a total of 99 chicken growing halls) on an area of over 150,000 square meters, and 800 employees, with headquarters in Vaslui.

The group has its processing facilities for meat from its farms: a slaughterhouse, a factory for chicken meat preparations and semi-prepared craft products using 100% natural spices, its feed production, concentrates, extruded cereals and full-fat soy, a protein flour factory, and its own fleet for rapid distribution in the country.

To be closer to customers in their home geographical area, the entrepreneurs from the Safir family decided to open several stores in Vaslui and a rotisserie, with a plan for expansion in the coming years.

George Safir describes how the Group's structure was conceived: “We thought of the business as integrated, from production to distribution. This vertical integration of the businesses within the Group is supported by the specifics of each of the four companies, which have complementary activities and are designed to optimize costs and the Group's activity.”

Regarding the market presence history and how chicken meat with natural color, free of feed colorants, is received, Iulian Safir added: “We have carefully observed customers' reactions to our products. We wanted to understand if it is really important for Romanians to know how the chicken their family consumes was raised or if the price is the main factor. Although we are competitive in the category, we have remained true to the conviction with which our grandfather started the business: to offer others what you would consume yourself and nothing else. Fortunately, those who choose our products are well aware of the importance of nutrition with healthy meat, and the loyalty rate is remarkably high, which is extremely rare, even for a well-established brand in the market.”

Among the four companies in the Safir Group, the business responsible for chicken rearing and managing the farms is Sagem, in which over 10 million euros have been invested to date.

The two farms in Botoșani dedicated to rearing slow-growing chickens are IKB certified and have the only certificate in Romania for animal welfare—Beter Leven 1*.

The Familia Safir brand has three main product categories sold to the final consumer: Deliciosul de Vaslui, Zdravăn Moldovenesc, and Răsfăț Românesc.