World meat industry news

Cherkizovo Group, Russia’s largest meat producer, has launched a comprehensive revamp of its flagship brand, Cherkizovo. The changes impacting both the product appearance and ingredients are designed to emphasize the Company's focus on customers, make Cherkizovo products stand out on store shelves, and expand the Group's audience outreach.  

In September, Cherkizovo Group launched a revamp of its main brand representing over 300 products in the sausage and chilled meat categories.

“Our history dates back to 1974 when the Cherkizovsky Meat Processing Plant was commissioned and started manufacturing sausages under the Cherkizovo brand. Today, as we are nearing our 45th anniversary, we are convinced that our customers’ loyalty was the key driver behind our flagship brand's enduring success. As customer care remains our key priority, we decided to reinvent our Cherkizovo brand so that it continues to be relevant in today's market,” said Sergey Mikhailov, CEO of Cherkizovo Group. 

As part of the rebranding campaign, the Company improved the recipes of its sausages and ready-to-cook pork products, and, most importantly, reduced the Cherkizovo product offering by removing the products that had failed to meet the customers’ expectations. This optimization is expected to further enhance the quality and taste of our products.

“When working on the new design, we aimed to breathe new life into the brand, while also staying true to its underlying message: Cherkizovo shows care for you and your family by maintaining a consistently high quality of its meat and poultry products,” said Victoria Duvanskaya, Chief Marketing Officer of Cherkizovo Group. This is also the key message behind Cherkizovo's new Heart at Home logo designed by the US-based Sterling Brands. “Good food connects people and helps them share special emotions expressing their love for their family members and friends. These emotions can accompany any meal, be it a quick snack or a fine dinner, as long as you enjoy products as diverse and healthy as those offered by Cherkizovo,” said Kelli Melendez, Client Services Manager of Sterling Brands.

According to consumer surveys, 81% of respondents perceive the Cherkizovo brand products and Cherkizovo Premium smoked sausages as being of higher quality thanks to revamped packaging. Moreover, 83% of those who usually opt for competitors’ products reported they would be inclined to buy Cherkizovo sausages after the design makeover. Among other things, the modern packaging solution serves to increase brand awareness among the young audience.

The Group has already started shipping its revamped Cherkizovo products to retail chains. From mid-October, the rebranding exercise will be supported by a comprehensive advertising campaign leveraging TV, online and other consumer communication channels. The Love will live in your home campaign was developed by the McCann Moscow creative agency.

Cherkizovo’s rebranding is a part of the Company’s development strategy designed to maintain its position as a modern world-class food producer. In its quest for continuous product quality improvements, Cherkizovo has established an in-house R&D Lab with no rivals in the Russian agricultural sector and launched a fully automated smoked sausage factory in Kashira in 2018.