Metro Cash & Carry Ukraine LLC (Metro C&C, Kyiv) is mulling investment in local production of meat and dairy food aiming to boost its market share, Metro Cash & Carry Ukraine Offer Management Director Adrian Ariciu has said.

"We are first interested in those items where we can boost the market share. Among the most interesting segments for Metro C&C are dairy and meat products. We are seriously studying this market. We plan to invest in it," he said at the Retailers CEO Summit: "It's Time for Local Brand Breakthrough" in Kyiv.

Ariciu said that this is vertical integration, purchase of local companies that would produce goods only for Metro C&C.

"For some items today it is 50% cheaper produce goods in Ukraine than in China. We are mulling the opportunities for investing into local production – both acquisition of business and long-term leasing. We are interested in fresh food and non-foods," he said.

Ariciu said that 42% of all food on Metro C&C's shelves is made in Ukraine. He said that this share is not enough and could be increased. He also said that the company changed the imports structure in the past several years. The share of Russian goods fell from 12% to almost a zero in the past two years. The company had to replace some items imposed from Italy by cheaper goods from Poland.

Metro Cash & Carry Ukraine LLC was founded in 2003.

It unites 23 Metro shopping centers and three Beri-Vezi wholesale centers in Ukraine.