Dmitry Makarkin, Innovation & Change Management Director at PROGRESS, attended the 3rd annual conference Food Industry & Retail that was arranged by the Vedomosti newspaper on October 24 in St Petersburg in order to host a discussion of a wide range of topics – healthy lifestyle, cooperation between manufacturers, retailers and end consumers and new legislative aspects of the industry regulation.
At the plenary session, Dmitry Makarkin spoke about the outlook and importance of modern baby food production. “The quality and safety of baby food is one of the pillars of a healthy nation. More and more people today understand that health is being shaped starting from a very young age and largely depends on the proper nutrition and food habits laid down in childhood,” Dmitry said.
The responsible manufacturers not only pay strong attention to the quality and safety of their products (requirements for the quality of raw materials used in baby food production are some of the most stringent in the food industry), but also follow all the modern industry trends. As Dmitry Makarkin noted, the key trends were a lower content of sugar and products enriched with vitamins, minerals, prebiotics and probiotics.
“We set high standards for ourselves, our suppliers and our partners, controlling the quality and safety of our products from raw materials to shelves. We are striving for harmonious partnership with the retail chains and other retail players. In 2016, we launched a number of supportive initiatives that ensure high quality of our products while they are on the shelves, including compliance with the product storage conditions,” Makarkin commented.
The Company’s representative also added that PROGRESS was actively cooperating with the retailers