Family-Owned Agriculture Enterprise with World-Class Standards

Agrofam – a family-owned agricultural enterprise founded and run by trained agronomists – is set to play a key role in the development of Romania’s high-potential agriculture sector. CEO Stefan Poienaru explains, “The difference between us and other big players in Romanian agriculture is that we are specialists in the industry. My wife is also an agronomist. Agriculture business in Romania can be profitable even without an agricultural background, but to be done properly; farming should be done with a lot of knowledge, experience and heart.”

The company has grown from a very small operation into a major enterprise which farms around 17,000 hectares of prime farmland to produce cereals (around 100,000 tonnes per year), oil-seed crops and more. Stefan Poienaru built the business from the ground up by reinvesting his profits and taking a long-term view. He has also assembled a team of experienced agronomists, economists, legal advisors and others.

Stefan Poienaru places a high priority on supporting the Romanian people, the local agriculture sector and his employees. Everyone who works for the company (around 400 employees) has the right to 100 kg of grain per month or the equivalent in cash, a free meal each day, loyalty awards, shared profits and bonuses, and the right for all employees’ children who graduate from university to have a job in the company. “Our employees are motivated to work efficiently,” Stefan Poienaru says.

The Romanian agriculture sector offers outstanding investment potential, Stefan Poienaru believes. He is currently looking for investors and partners to help him expand Agrofam, for example concerning livestock production and organic food products. He says, “We have a farm with 3,000 sheep and 1,500 goats and we are producing milk and milk products which will soon be certified organic. The Romanian market is flooded with inferior products so we want to market our products in the EU and we prefer to work with private investors.”