^Green Cottage Ices -
HOT FOR COOPERATION
What'S NewS Issue 6 June 1996
working relations
3
USD) in 1992; 68 billion in 1993; 170
billion the next year; and 285 billion last
year. Even taking inflation into account,
this represents incredible growth. 'In the
old days,' he explains, 'if we needed
finance, we'd borrow privately. The banks
here were extremely bureacratic. So I was
pleasantly surprised when I met Dr
Ladrowowski one day and started talking
about our business. BRP hadn't even been
launched then; it was still in the planning
stage. But we made what you'd call a
"gentlemen's agreement" that we would
bring our business to BRP once it got off
the ground.'
Rabo-BRP's Tomasz Sandomierski
volunteered to drive us over to the Zielona
Budka factory on the outskirts of the Polish
•apital and to act as interpretor. On the
vay, he provided a quick run-down on the
ice-maker's phenomenal growth, but waxed
ever more lyrical on the quality of the
product that had been a childhood favourite.
Sandomierski can't remember the original
Green Cottage where Zbigniew Grycan's
grandfather began selling ice-cream in 1947.
Tm too young for that,' he laughs, 'hut
even though they'd moved to new premises,
I still remember it as the best in Warsaw.
IMMENSE INVESTMENT
The enormous glasses of Zielona Budka ice
offered by Grycan before we've even sat
down prove Tomasz's childhood memories
have lost nothing in the transition from
'cottage' ice-maker to major producer. 'We
began industrial production in 1992, but
our aim was always to keep the original
^puality,' Grycan confirms. 'It was a slow
start because the investment needed was
immense - at least for us it was. You need
around USD 1 million to start up a single
production line. But that isn't the only
problem. Distribution makes or breaks
you. And it also requires a lot of capital
because you must have custom-built trucks
In 1991, Zbigniew Grycan and his wife Elisabeth were still running a
single ice-cream parlour in the centre of Warsaw. Five years later and
Zielona Budka, or Green Cottage lees, is one of the top brands
nationwide and the Grycans are already exporting as far afield as
Siberia. One of Bank BRP's first-ever clients, Grycan and his company
have high hopes of the new joint venture.
POLEN BREEKT
HET IJS
Zielona Budka,ofwel
Green Cottage lees, is een
van BRP's klanten van het eerste uur. Het
bedrijf startte als ijswinkel in Warschau en
groeide in de loop der jaren uit tot een
grote ijsfabriek met een omzet van PLZ 285
mrd. (USD 1,16 mrd.). De relatie met BRP is
altijd zeer goed geweest. Kredietbeslis-
singen werden binnen 24 uur genomen.
Eigenaar Zbigniew Grycan hoopt dat de
nieuw opgerichte joint-venture niet al te
bureaucratisch zal gaan werken.
for transport, and install freezers in retail
outlets for your products.'
EXCLUSIVE SUPPLIER
In spite of the great investment involved,
Grycan has managed to corner
a significant domestic market
share over the past three years
involving an equally significant
increase in employees - 300 in
the season against 20 in the old
days. 'We're not only in
Warsaw, but also in other
selected regions in Poland,' he
says. 'And we've been able to
gain exclusive rights to
supplying Pizza Hut. At
present, the factory is running
a maximum capacity of 1.5
million litres a month. Poles eat
only 3.5 litres of ice-cream
every year against, for
example, 16 litres per capita in
Sweden. So the domestic Zbigniew
market alone offers incredible
room for expansion.' The company is also
ice-cream supplier to the Polish president
and council of ministers, Grycan adds with
some pride. Zielona Budka's forays into the
export market include Russia and the
Ukraine. In fact, waiting patiently outside is
a team of truck drivers. 'They're Russians,'
he explains. 'They'11 be trucking out as soon
as we receive Swift confirmation that the
shipment has been paid for. We don't do
anything with Russia unless it is prepaid.'
MASSIVE GROWTH
Zbigniew Grycan sounds like any other
shrewd, savvy business person, yet he is the
first to admit that he knew very little about
banks and the kind of sophisticated
financial instruments his Western
counterparts take for granted. 'Because we
used to be very small, there was little need
for banks,' he says. But in the past three
years, the company has grown dramatically
- turnover was 10 billion zlotys (41 million
LEARNING CURVE
In fact, Zielona Budka was one of BRP's
first clients. 'We've kind of grown up
together,' Grycan laughs. 'We began with a
small facility, but that increased rapidly. We
would like to see cooperation with the
bank continue as before. So far, I've had a
Grycan - hoping for sophisticated products.
real relationship with BRP. They know me
and I know them. If I needed finance, I
knew I could rely on having a decision
within 24 hours. That's possible with a
small bank. I won't hide from you the fact
that we're concerned the new joint venture
will be more bureaucratie. On the other
hand, Rabobank is a Triple-A rated
institution, so 1 think we're all hoping for
cheaper funding here in Poland,' he grins. 'I
think it's true to say I convinced the BRP
people to start leasing. I'd learnt how useful
that instrument can be when I first began
industrial production. I think that's what
I'm looking for from the new joint venture
- access to the kind of sophisticated
products not widety available on the Polish
market. I'm talking here about new
instruments but also new technologies, for
example electronic banking. That could be
really helpful. There is a whole learning
curve for us. I think BRP's original clients
are looking to the new bank to provide it.'
