Master Good, a family-owned poultry business, has grown to be one of Eastern Europe’s largest integrated producers and the biggest one in central Europe. Its foundation rests on a vertically integrated model that spans the complete poultry production process, from breeding and feed production to primary processing and by-product utilisation.
The company continues to be owned by the Bárány family that established the business in the early 1900s, making it the oldest poultry breeding dynasty in Hungary. The turn of the new millennium was a time of intensive development and investment that lead to the creation of a highly successful international business, now managed by two brothers of the fourth generation of the Bárány family, together with their still active father.
Bringing a new perspective to the business, they focused on free-range poultry farming in Hungary under the Free-range Chicken Programme that was launched in 2001 and set out the basis for full-scale poultry integration for both organic poultry products as well as industrial broiler production on a much larger scale.
Managing Director László Bárány highlights the importance of vertical integration, one of the reasons behind the company’s growth and its clear competitive advantage. “Covering the whole value chain from fodder production (non-GM feed only), through parent stock raising, hatching, chick raising to processing and fertiliser production, gives us full control over quality, efficiency, and animal welfare.”
Closed loop
The process starts with grains – the company manages nearly 5,500 hectares in Hungary and 30,000 hectares in Slovakia on which raw fodder material is produced to be processed into fodder. The chain then processes through the individual stages of live bird raising all the way to final product processing and fertilising.
“We operate the largest manure fermentation factory in Europe which converts chicken manure into natural fertilizer, rich in phosphorus – a nutrient rarely found in nature – benefiting both crop production and the environment. The fertiliser is then sold to our farmers, closing the loop,” says Bárány. “The full-cycle approach underscores our dedication to sustainability and waste reduction. We are the only company in Europe that operates this circular economy model, enabled by our deep vertical integration.”
With regard to poultry processing, Master Good is the largest company in its sector in central Europe, employing over 3,600 people in its numerous facilities. It is the market leader in chicken food products in Hungary and a major regional supplier to retailers, as well as one of the largest members of the McDonald’s supply chain in Europe. In addition, the company is also Hungary’s market leader in pet food sausage production, another branch of the diversified Group.
Master Good is highly self-sufficient, and only uses suppliers for packaging, some raw materials and specialised equipment, says Bárány. “We try to select the very best suppliers, who are market leaders themselves in their fields of business. As such, we employ the very latest technology in our operations which helps us to be in the top 1% of our industry.”
Innovation is an integral part of Master Good’s operations, where all production facilities use advanced machinery and automation systems to increase efficiency and reduce labour. Now the company is exploring, in collaboration with universities in the UK and the Netherlands, robotic solutions for live bird management.
Driven by talent, committed to sustainability
When asked what is behind this growing success of the group, Bárány reflects that the level of integration, unique in Europe, certainly plays a major part. The other key aspect are the people. “We truly believe in developing our own managers internally – some 80-90% of our managers have been trained within our in-company programme.”
The programme, called ‘Master Good University” trains around 10 to 15 new managers each year across various sectors of the company, ensuring a steady pipeline of skilled professionals who understand Master Good’s values and operations. “This focus on talent development has been instrumental in supporting our rapid business growth, which has averaged an annual increase of 10-15% over the past decade. I strongly believe that such an achievement would not have been possible without our management training programme.”
Bárány further affirms that in addition to looking after its people, the company has set ambitious environmental goals to minimize its carbon footprint and embrace sustainable practices. He highlights a major milestone achieved recently – the installation of nearly 40 megawatts of solar panels, which provide 35% of the company’s total electricity needs. “We are the only company in our industry in Europe that produces 35% of its total electric consumption across its entire operation – from the farms and the feed mills to the hatchery and the processing plants.”
He explains that the company’s focus on sustainability extends to carbon footprint monitoring. Master Good has developed a unique system to accurately measure carbon emissions across all stages of production, an achievement made possible due to its extensive integration. “We are now close to finalizing a verification process for this system, expected to be fully operational by late-2024. Preliminary results suggest that our carbon footprint is less than half that of the average European poultry producer.”
Dedicated to succeed
In recent years, Master Good’s revenue has continued to grow, reaching 880 million euros in 2023, and Bárány reveals that the management has ambitious plans for further growth as well as for increasing its sustainability credentials. “We have a very ambitious goal to be the lowest carbon footprint producer in industry continentally, and as such also globally.”
Another challenge is to achieve even deeper vertical integration. This would mean taking control of all related services, such as logistics, energy generation and wastewater management and processing every by-product of every stage of our production.”
To this end, the company is implementing several investment projects – for example, Master Good is now in the final stages of building its new greenfield sausage factory, set to be one of the most advanced in Europe in terms of automation, and planned to be open at the end of next year.
“By the end of this decade we would like to double the integration, and we are now working very hard on it, investing in capacity expansion of all parts of the integrated production,” he says. “The plan is ambitious, but we are determined to succeed.”
