The Carmistin Group, owned by the Paraschiv family, is one of the largest players on the Romanian agri-food market, and one of the few Romanian agricultural holding companies operating in an integrated system.
Carmistin integrates 90% of the agri-zootechnical production chain, from cereal farming, feed production, animal husbandry (chickens, pigs, beef) to slaughtering, processing and distributing meat products (including through its own meat product retail network).
Established in the early 2000s, the Carmistin Group consists of over 20 companies, clustered into 4 production divisions: chicken, pork, beef, and agriculture. The biggest companies in the Carmistin Group are Avicarvil, Avirom Plus, Avicarvil Farms, Avicarvil Farming, Avicarvil Food & Distribution, Porcellino Grasso, Agrikilti, Carmistin Trading, Carmistin International, Pajo Agriculture and Tracian Beef. The number of employees in the entire Group exceeded 2,000 at the end of 2019.
The Group has grown significantly in recent years, with its annual turnover increasing by two figures in the 2016-2019 period, having exceeded the RON 1 billion threshold at the end of last year. All these results came as a result of the vision of entrepreneur Iustin Paraschiv, whose business strategy was based on two elements: investments in new business lines and new production capacities.
According to the entrepreneur, between January 2019 and January 2020, investments went up to EUR 20 million euros. Considerable investments were made in the poultry line, with the Group reaching an annual production capacity of over 20 million chickens bred and slaughtered within their own facilities, but also in swine production, as another major investment was started in the pig breeding farm in Ipotești, Olt county. “We will continue to make investments; this year we’ll focus on upgrading and opening new facilities, on both the chicken line and the pig breeding line,” says Iustin Paraschiv.