In the Name of Passion - Kometa CEO on the Healthy Food Paradigm Shift and the Role of Optimism in Business S01E01
2023. 10. 10.
CEO and co-founder of Kometa, Giacomo Pedranzini strives to strike a balance between mass production, high quality and affordable prices with the aim to provide healthy meat products for the largest possible number of people. In this episode of Invest in Hungary, the Italian executive, who received the “Expat CEO of the Year Award” in 2022, shares his vision about what it takes to drastically cut working hours at his company, why Hungary’s response to the energy crisis was wise, and why higher food prices are not necessarily that bad after all.
Giacomo Pedranzini has been living in Hungary for nearly three decades and has recently become a Hungarian citizen. The CEO and co-owner of Kometa, one of Hungary’s largest meat processing companies is driven by passion to make a difference in an industry characterized by fierce competition. His mission is to promote a paradigm shift that aims to push people to eat healthy food. As he explains, the current high prices are not necessarily a bad thing, and could be used as an opportunity.
As a long-time HIPA client, Kometa has invested well over EUR 100 million to upgrade technology and expand capacities. But the ultimate goal of all investments is to serve the people.
“To stay competitive, we have to grow in volume which, in turn, requires automation. This enhanced productivity is to create an environment where people can use their brain more and work less and less hours,” Pedranzini notes while listing how this extra free time should be spent meaningfully: do more sports, keep learning and volunteer.
The executive further praised how the Hungarian Government handled the energy crisis. Whereas elsewhere companies were reimbursed for their extra costs, in Hungary emphasis was put on investing in the future where “we can make better use of energy and create new renewable capacities.”
Listen to the full show now, and find out what else Mr. Pedranzini had to share on:
- what lessons can be learned from the energy crisis
- whether he is confident about ROI in spite of the current economic slowdown
- what expats have to offer to the Hungarian economy
- how he can reconcile his Italian and Hungarian self – two extremes in terms of optimism
- what small investors should consider when investing in Hungary
…not to mention what his favorite Hungarian dish is.
Don’t forget to follow and rate the show. Any comments? Send us a message to [email protected].