What happened? Henryk Kania, the founder of the meat empire, died at the age of 78. Paweł Sztefek, mayor of Ustroń, announced the death of the entrepreneur on social media. Henryk Kania was its resident. The funeral will take place on Tuesday, November 26. “An exceptional philanthropist, especially supporting the St. Anthony Foundation in Ustroń” – Sztefek said goodbye to him.
Who was Henryk Kania? Henryk Kania (senior, because his son has the same name) was the founder of Zakłady Mięsne Henryk Kania. They had a huge impact on the development of the Polish meat market in the 1990s. For nearly 30 years on the market, they were one of the largest producers of cold cuts and packaged meat in Poland. The main recipients of these products were retail chains in Poland and abroad, including: Auchan, Biedronka, Carrefour, Delikatesy Centrum, E-Leclerc and Intermarché.
The company was taken over by his son Henryk Kania junior: In 2003, the entrepreneur handed over the plants to his son with the same name and surname. He currently resides in Argentina. Extradition proceedings are underway to bring the businessman to Poland. The charges against him include, among others: committing tax crimes.
The collapse of the Henryk Kania Meat Plant: The company filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Its losses amounted to almost one billion zlotys. Meanwhile, in 2018, sales revenues generated by ZMHK exceeded PLN 1 billion. However, it turned out that the company had large debts, amounting to several hundred million PLN. Part of the company was sold. They were bought for PLN 100 million net by Cedrob, one of the leaders in the meat industry in Poland.
More about this who is Henryk Kania junior and how Zakłady Mięsne Henryk Kania went bankrupt, we wrote in this article: “Who is Henryk K.? This is how the meat business of a famous entrepreneur collapsed“.