More than 120 stores across the country are now offering the dairy products of LB Bulgaricum at attractive prices
An interactive map shows the exact location of each of the stores that offers the LB Bulgaricum dairy products at preferential prices. It is loaded when opening the website of the state-owned company (lbbulgaricum.bg) and aims to facilitate users, who have increased in number in recent months.
‘At the beginning of our management, LB Bulgaricum offered its products in 11 company stores and in several large retail chains. The market share of the company was about 2% and the conditions under which the products were sold in one of the big chains had led to a loss for LB of BGN 500 thousand per year’, said Minister Nikola Stojanov. According to him, after taking urgent measures to change the company’s operations, its turnover has doubled and its products are now available in over 120 stores across the country. ‘Thanks to our strategic partnership with the Central Cooperative Union, we have guaranteed consumers a firm price in all their shops — white cheese for 12.90 BGN/kg and yellow cheese for 15.90 BGN/kg,’ the Economy Minister further explained.
A change in the supply organisation was also introduced as the company was not immediately ready to meet the high consumer demand. In recent months, there have been customers waiting outside their stores all the time, and they run out of goods so quickly that they have to restock at least 2 times a day. ‘We have shown that the market can have a quality product at an attractive price, while the company is profitable,’ added Nikola Stojanov.
Key to these results, he said, was a change in the organisation of raw milk supply to production. ‘What we have changed is that now LB works entirely with local, Bulgarian suppliers,’ Nikola Stojanov stressed. In the past, decisions on which suppliers the state company should work with were taken by its director alone. Today, there are clear and public rules, and it is mandatory that 40% of the supply comes from small farms and the remaining 60% is divided between at least 5 large cow farms. ‘In this way we guarantee diversification of supplies and there is no risk that the company will be dependent on one big supplier who will start dictating terms’, explains the Economy Minister.
LB products continue to be available in some of the major retail chains, and negotiations are underway with each of them to change the terms of this cooperation in order to reset prices for end users. ‘Competition on the market is the best mechanism to regulate prices,’ Stojanov stressed.
LB products are now sold in 112 stores of the Central Cooperative Union in the following areas: Montana — 8; Burgas — 12; Varna — 11; Ruse — 8; Pernik — 2; Lovech — 23; Sofia — 4; Plovdiv —44. Their exact location can be found on the map here: https://lbbulgaricum.bg/%d0%ba%d0%be%d0%bd%d1%82%d0%b0%d0%ba%d1%82%d0%b8/