General Director of Kommunarka Sergei Anyukhovsky: “Our confectionery business has become a real art”

More than fifty Belarusian companies received awards at the solemn ceremony of presenting the Republican Award “Consumer Market Leader - 2023”. One of them rightfully became the Kommunarka confectionery factory, well known far beyond the borders of our country, which won seven prizes at once.

The company is one of the largest producers of confectionery products in Belarus; every resident of our country is undoubtedly familiar with its products. More than 350 types of confectionery products with a total weight of over 27 thousand tons annually decorate not only the holiday tables of both Belarusians and residents of several dozen countries who have long appreciated the quality of Kommunarka’s sweet products.

Today the factory has three main workshops: candy, chocolate and candy-chocolate. Candies, chocolate, cocoa powder - all this is produced by Kommunarka JSC.

In the production of confectionery products, only natural raw materials are used and the entire cocoa bean processing cycle is carried out, which allows us to ensure the highest quality of products.

The high quality of Kommunarka products is traditionally noted by the organizing committee of the Republican Award "Consumer Market Leader". At a recent ceremony, the company received “Grand Prix” diplomas in the “Confectionery Products” category (for glazed sweets “Recharge Bar” with salted caramel, peanuts, almonds and hazelnuts in MILK chocolate) and the same award in the category that found its leaders for the first time " Socially responsible business" - for creating and preserving jobs and supporting young professionals.

The factory was awarded "Laureate" diplomas in the nomination "Confectionery" (for the TM "Lubimaya Alenka") and in the nomination "Chocolate" (for the chocolate lines TM "Kommunarka" and TM "Truffles").

Managers in the “Management Leader - 2023” nomination were also awarded diplomas. Sergei Anatolyevich Anyukhovsky, General DIRECTOR of Kommunarka, was awarded for his impeccable business reputation, effective management and socially oriented management style . Deputy General Director for Commercial Affairs Svetlana Aleksandrovna Gontareva was awarded for creative marketing solutions, impeccable business reputation and entrepreneurial initiative.

Our conversation with Sergei Anyukhovsky, member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus , general director of SOAO Kommunarka, began with the question of preparing the enterprise for the New Year. After all, according to tradition, the holiday tables of Belarusians are not complete without sweets from the MINSK enterprise.

- Sergey Anatolyevich, it’s probably cold December at your factory - is this the hottest time?

- You know, the busy time for us begins in August, when preparations for the New Year’s campaign begin in full force. This year, about 1.5 million New Year's gifts were issued and sold, and this is an impressive figure. The entire team worked and is working at a rather intense pace. But I responsibly declare that all children who behaved well will definitely receive sweets from Santa Claus!

-Are you in touch with him?

- But of course! (Laughs.) We sometimes call each other, and then I report that Kommunarka’s assortment includes sets from 300 grams to 3 kilograms in different packaging options: soft toys, textile bags, tin tubes, cardboard boxes. And in our company stores you can create an individual New Year's gift to your liking and pack it in a gift box.

- By the way, about branded trade: it is noticeable that the number of Kommunarka outlets is constantly growing...

- Absolutely right! INWe are entering the new year by selling our products in 25 company stores. In addition to the existing ones, in 2023 we opened several new ones - in the cities of Baranovichi, Vitebsk and Minsk . Several new stores have appeared in the capital - in the shopping center "Capital", the shopping center City Mall, in the President Hotel, at the metro station "Kamennaya Gorka" on Pritytskogo, 97. On December 29, we are planning to open another store in the new shopping center "Pershy National Gandlev's House", we are now actively working on this project.

- What is the range, how many types of products does Kommunarka produce and what sweets are the most popular?

- The assortment list includes about 350 items: we produce weighted candies and sets of candies, chocolate and chocolate sets, cocoa products, toffee and dragees. Moreover, every year the factory pleases the consumer with about twenty new products, and this year there are more than thirty.

The leaders in sales in the chocolate category are “Lubimaya Alenka”, “Truffle elite bitter with filling”, “Capital elite”, “Belovezhskaya Pushcha elite bitter with filling”, “Kommunarka bitter with filling with blackcurrant puree”.

Among the candies, the most popular are “Favorite Alenka”, “Capital Elite”, “Romashka”, “Chernomorochka”, “Sorvanets”, “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Belorusskie”.

- “Kommunarka” has become a brand that is constantly heard. How does this work?

- The whole secret is that we do not rest on our laurels, but are constantly improving and developing. We are creating a new innovative full-cycle import-substituting production for processing cocoa beans in Minsk at the address: Gerasimenko Street, 57. Since we have nowhere to expand on Aranskaya, in the Zavodskoy district we are, in fact, building a second factory - large-scale, with the most modern equipment and advanced technologies.

In addition, every year we create not only new chocolate products, but also get involved in projects that are completely new to us. So, this year, on behalf of the President of the country, ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, we created dragees from powdered milk, which are sold in our company stores. The product is packaged in bags of 50 grams, one bag contains oneglass of milk: the milk powder content reaches almost 40% of the weight of the candy. We are now actively implementing a project for the mass production of these sweets in Liozno.

In 2025, the Kommunarka factory will celebrate its 120th anniversary. It would seem that there is still a lot of time, but for such an important event for our factory, we have already updated the company logo, produced many new products, and maintained our traditional recipes and quality.

This is how the success of the factory is formed from the daily painstaking work of our predecessors and each employee today.

- The glory of “Kommunarka” resounds far beyond the borders of our country. What are the EXPORT targets of the enterprise?

- Indeed, products are supplied all over the world, but the three countries to which we export the largest volumes of products are RUSSIA , CHINA and Kazakhstan . We are also interested in exploring the Middle East market. At the same time, you need to understand that consumer tastes around the world are completely different. For example, in November the 6th China International Import Expo was held , where the National Pavilion of the Republic of Belarus worked. What can I say about the taste: 72% chocolate, “Kommunarka bitter chocolate with cranberry puree” and our new product, “Charge Bar”, were really liked by the Chinese consumer. The chocolate paintings definitely attracted attention! We gave one of them to the exhibition organizer Chen Yusong. In response, our Chinese partners created security codes leading to a store with our products on the JD.com marketplace.

I think everyone can see that our confectionery business has become a real art, capable of surprising and winning the hearts of consumers around the world. Kommunarka masters Veronika Velesik and Tatyana Bernatovich won gold awards at the International Championship of Confectionery Art. Their work is simply amazing. It seems that it is impossible to make anything like this from chocolate! But I always tell the team: “Set big goals. Don’t waste time on trifles. Look ahead. Life is given to us so that we can make our dreams come true.”

Let us remind you that the ceremony of presenting the Republican Award “Consumer Market Leader - 2023” took place on December 19 at the capital’s President Hotel. This year the Prize was awarded for the ninth time.

The annual Republican award "Consumer Market Leader" was established by the communications agency "MEDIA PARTNER" in 2015. The laureates are determined by an expert council consisting of leading representatives of the business community, government bodies , mass media and science.

Additional information about the event can be obtained on the website, as well as by phone:

+375-17-282-53-62, +375-44-753-20-33, +375-25-753-20-33, +375-29-753-20-33

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