Farm Visit: How to Produce Potatoes for PepsiCo Factory in Romania
Mirica Farm in Romania is preparing to develop one of the most modern storage facilities for potatoes in East Europe with a capacity of 3,000 tons by accessing a UE grant.
By Ioana Oancea
To develop in the Romanian market and neighboring countries, PepsiCo needed potato suppliers who are able to provide a sufficient quantity over an extended period throughout the year. Since 2004, many chips produced in PepsiCo’s factory in Romania have been made from potatoes provided by Mirica’s farm in Lunguletu, Dambovita County. The farm delivers 1,500 tons of potatoes per year, cropped on a surface of 60 ha, while another 40 ha are cultivated with vegetables.
The variety of potato cultivated by the Mirica family is Lady Claire, obtained by Meijer Research BV breeding company. Lady Claire is a proper variety for producing chips and can be cropped in June and July; however, it cannot be stored for a long period of time.
Mirica farm was developed as a family-business and is now led by Cosmin Mirica, a 24- year-old agronomist. The most common problems for farmers in Romania are bureaucracy and a lack of concern from the authorities, but also the difficulty of finding workers in agriculture. “It is quite difficult. There are sectors in which young persons [achieve] success much faster”, explained Cosmin Mirica, who told journalists that he is present on the field at 5:00 and sometimes goes to sleep at 1:00 the next day.
The farm employs three people permanently, but needs temporary workers for cropping and sorting potatoes in season. In 2015, Mirica Farm received the Global Gap certification for producing safe agricultural products.
Technological development
For technological development, the farm has twice accessed EU grants that are available to Romanian farmers (of EUR168k and EUR40k). The farm has now implemented procedures for accessing a new grant of between EUR800k and EUR1m. Development in this area also involves a storage facility with a modern ventilation system and a capacity of 3,000 tons of potatoes. A representative of PepsiCo, Alexandra Lupascu, mentioned that June is a critical month for potato chips production, because in Romania, there is no storage with a controlled ventilation system available.
PepsiCo also has partnerships with 21 farms in Romania, most of them in the Harghita, Covasna and NeamtCounty, which provide other potato varieties during the year such as Newton and Brooke. Lay’s uses in its Romanian factory 80% locally produced potatoes, while 20% are imported from other European countries.
PepsiCo’s specialist mentioned that the company supports farmers through its best practices team and by providing training and educational programs. The most recent program was Lay’s Academy, the practical part of which took place on Mirica Farm.
Some technical data
- It takes 3.5 kg of fresh potatoes to produce 1 kg of chips
- PepsiCo’s factory in Popesti-Leordeni, IlfovCounty, processes 100 tons of potatoes per day
- Approx. 60% of Mirica Farm’s profits are generated through its collaboration with PepsiCo.
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