From feed factory to poultry shop chain – how the delicious Székely Csürke (Szekler Chicken) gets to the table

CEO from the Hargita

Born in the heart of Szeklerland, in Gyergyószentmiklós (Gheorgheni), he now lives with his family in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), but his work takes him on the road, from Szatmárnémeti (Satu Mare) to Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mures) and Brassó (Brasov). Dénes Laczkó is the Managing Director of UBM Feed Romania, the largest feed producer in Hungary's eastern neighbour. At the same time, he also manages Poultry Investment, a group of companies involved in chicken breeding, hatching, chicken growing, and slaughtering, and, at the end of the chain, in the sale of chicken meat. The young economist graduated from Babeș-Bolyai University in 2012. He got into agriculture and animal husbandry not consciously, but rather by chance.

He started his career in the car parts sector, where he quickly became a leader, and only later did he enter the grain trade, the feed industry and then the chicken meat market. 

"Romania is a major agricultural power: it produces more than 30 million tonnes of grain, most of which is exported, but imports the added value due to a lack of processing capacity. In other words, we export the grain and re-import the feed. This is also true for livestock: they are exported as live animals, but in the lack of modern slaughterhouses, we have to import the processed meat into the country," he explains. A solution to this situation has been sought and found in Transylvania. For a long time, feed was supplied from Hungary, but they realised there was a local demand for production. The feed factory was built jointly with the UBM group in Hungary, so it is half and half owned. The plant opened in 2019 in Kerelőszentpál (Sanpaul), near Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mures).

“poultry and pigs fatten up faster”

The largest and most modern feed factory in Romania is located in Kerelőszentpál (Sanpaul). They produce feed for poultry, pigs and farm animals. They produce 30 tonnes per hour and 220 thousand tones per year. The plant employs 46 people, 17 of them in production. A shift is run by three people: an operator who controls the production in front of a computer and two other workers. Production is fully automated, seven days a week, 0-24 hours.

"It is one of the top five factories in Europe," they say of the facility, and Dénes Laczkó confirms this. He points out that not only do they produce premium quality feed, but they also provide expert advice, which means they actually go out and help farmers on the spot, on the farm. Their customers include small backyard farms as well as professional large-scale livestock farmers.
"When’s a customer happy? When the poultry and pigs fatten up faster. We set a record in this among Romanian poultry farms, as the best results were achieved with our feed." –  underlines the CEO. According to Dénes Laczkó, there are still a lot of negative myths about large-scale poultry farming, such as the chickens being treated with antibiotics and hormones.

He says that people tend to associate a healthy lifestyle with chickens pecking away on the backyard, whereas he believes that even large-scale production can produce the same quality. 

"We use grain, i.e. wheat, maize, sunflower and soya meal, and add vitamins and minerals to make a ready-made feed that helps the chicken to develop healthily. There are no secrets, no hormones, no drugs," he says. In addition, the whole production process is environmentally friendly, using solar energy, and the emissions are close to zero.

Egg, hen, Szekler Chicken (”Székely Csürke”)

Two years ago, when they saw that the feed factory was successful and working well, they decided to not only feed other people's chickens with the high quality feed, but also to have their own. That's how Poultry Investment was born.

From hatchery to shelves
Poultry Investment employs 820 people. Hens and roosters are reared on two farms, from where the eggs are transported to two hatcheries. Every year, 15 million day-old chicks are produced and reared to slaughter weight on 13 sites, from where they are sent to two slaughterhouses. At the end of the process, 25,000 tonnes of chicken meat are produced annually.

Most of the delicious chicken meat goes to supermarket chains, while a smaller proportion ends up on the shelves of their own shops. In addition, they have two brands of their own on the market: the Székely Csürke ('Szekler Chicken')) for Hungarians in Transylvania and Puiul de Craiesti (Chicken from Királyfalva/Craiesti) for Romanian customers. The Székely Csürke is now available throughout Szeklerland and will be expanded to other areas of Transylvania. They are also present in some chain stores in Hungary, but further expansion is planned. 

Dénes Laczkó spends his everyday life commuting between the feed factory, the slaughterhouses and the various company premises.

At the same time, supporting talented students is also an important part of his life, and he has founded a special training course at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca).

The most talented students in each year group are selected to gain practical experience beyond their theoretical education at university. This year, for the third year running, he has also been an active participant in the Transylvanian Mentor Program organised by the Hungarian State Secretariat for National Policy. He aims to pass on his knowledge to as many prospective entrepreneurs as possible.