1544 pplOn August 4, our company celebrated
The Malt, CJSC company (as Grainrus was called in his youth) was created by three young people in August 1997. The stage at which the company stands now is the result of a huge amount of work by a large number of professionals; the ability to feel the market and consumer needs; decency, even in the most difficult economic situations, and quite a bit of luck :)
The creation of the company took place during one of the most favorable periods: a powerful growth in beer production began in Russia. There was not enough malt on the market. There were few competitors, and they sold their malt with fabulous margins!
In addition to favorable external factors, the company managed to create a strong team: Valery Chirkov in Soviet times worked in the Export of Bread and imported malt, Andrey Kichigin — several years before the creation of Malt, CJSC worked in the grain market and well understood the modern realities of trade in Russia, Vladislav Chernov (managing director of Grainrus, LLC) had a great the experience of working with customs, which was of great importance then.
In addition to having a strong team, the first partners of Grainrus from Finland (author's note: Raisio concern), in 1997 increased the production capacity by 50%. They were extremely interested in malt supplies to Russia, believing in the young company just for the professionalism they saw in their new partners. It was a time when malt was shipped without prepayment.
In August 1997, our price for Finnish malt was $100 per ton lower than the price of competitors, importers of German and English malt, which made entering the market comfortable and successful.
Is there a difference in the relationship with brewers 20 years ago and now? Of course there is! 20 years ago we lived in another country. Our first clients were small, private companies. Personal contact with the management of the plant was of great, decisive importance at that time. New owners often did not know how to properly manage production. Many, unfortunately, have lost control of the business.
Now, for those who have retained the business, everything is structured: when purchasing, quality, price and other commercial conditions are a priority. Although, of course, human contacts, relationships, other things being equal, give a certain advantage. The main requirement for the supplier, as it was 20 years ago, is decency, reliability and conformity of the offer to the market (price and quality). The Grainrus, LLC company understands this perfectly.
But we can definitely say that the requirements for raw materials and service have changed along with the growth of professionalism of brewers. The last 10 years there has been fierce competition on the market, which means that raw materials must completely cover all the emerging needs of modern brewers. And the fact that we have been among the market leaders for 20 years now gives us every right to say that we are confidently coping with this task.
