ASTANA – With state support, more and more companies start production of essential goods, successfully competing with foreign products. KAZBRAND used the state support to construct high-tech plant and is entering one of the most competitive and profit-making niches of food market with high quality instant noodles. The company aims to distinguish own products by big portion size, low price and natural ingredients.
Photo credit: inform.kz
“The project was implemented with the support of KazAgroFinance, which allocated more than 900 million tenge (US$2.8 million) for construction and installation works and leasing of technological equipment. Our company used to invest 300 million tenge (US$939,000) from own funds for the construction of the plant. We use Chinese equipment, because there are no European analogues,” said KAZBRAND Director General Almaz Zaripov in an exclusive interview with the Astana Times.
“First, we approved the technological process, and after that we designed the construction part. This process is quite long-term and not simple. The project itself took five years from design to final commissioning,” he added.
“Today, not only in our enterprise, but also most enterprises of Kazakhstan have problem with qualified personnel, especially among engineering and technical personnel. That is an acute issue. There are practically no good specialists,” Zaripov said.
“This is due not only to the fact that during the last 10 years the flow of technicians who have left the country has increased, but also because our young people are unwilling to learn technical professions,” he said.
“President Nursultan Nazarbayev highlighted in his state-of-the-nation address to the people of Kazakhstan that it is necessary to give impetus to the development of vocational and technical education for young people. We hope that one of such impulses can be the launch of the project called Free Vocational Education for All. It is necessary for our young people to be provided with work to be confident in the future, and then the production will be able to receive qualified personnel,” Zaripov explained.
“As of today, we are now ready to hire and train everyone who wants to work in our field. We hope and believe that we will be able, at least partially, to meet our needs for personnel. Working in production is very complicated, but it is quite interesting. There is an opportunity for professional growth. You can become a leading engineer, workshop head and production department head. The main thing is desire and diligence,” he added.
“According to market analysis of instant noodles, there are main players from Russia with brands such as Rollton, Big Lunch and Big Bon, which are firmly entrenched in the Kazakhstan market. Our noodles are really different from the products of these famous manufacturers, because they are made from natural ingredients. Flour in our noodles is Kazakh, which is famous for its high content of gluten. The high level of gluten retains its shape and elasticity. The noodles have a smooth surface and a golden cream colour,” Zaripov said.
“Glutamate monosodium is an indispensable and basic ingredient of many products. The ingredient is 100 percent natural in Kespebai noodles. It is made in Japan from ocean and sea fish, various shrimps. So our noodles are not only delicious, but also useful,” he said.
“At the time of the start of construction of our plant, there were no similar production of instant noodles in the country. Now there are several of them in the state. They are not major competitors for us, but they will occupy a certain share in the market. It is very gratifying that our Kazakh producers are entering the market. This makes us happy and gives a huge incentive to develop production, improve the quality of the produced noodles and further expand the range of products,” Zaripov said.
