Kormotech Group aims to enter the top 20 chains in each of its priority markets and increase the share of online sales to 15% in the next three years.
These plans were announced by Yuriy Bykoriz, Managing Director of Kormotech’s Central and Eastern Europe region, in an interview withInterfax Ukraine.
“We want to have (the share of e-commerce) at least 15% by 2028 in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. We see a resource for rapid growth because the share of sales in CEE countries via the Internet is growing and e-commerce is showing higher growth rates than other channels,” Bykoriz emphasized.
He said that there are separate teams in the commercial structure in Europe – one responsible for the development of supermarket chains and one responsible for the development of online sales.
“Currently, the direction of online sales is being developed by Stefan Roche, a German, whom we chose for this position because of his experience, from the largest European pet store chain, where he developed e-commerce. Now he is working with us and we are already present in key markets. For example, in Poland, we are on Allegro, in Romania – on eMag, and our brands are also represented on Amazon. Over the next three years, our goal is to enter the top 20 networks in each of the priority markets,” said Bykoriz.
The peak period of online sales is the sales period.
“November, the so-called Black Friday, is the peak. Interestingly, these are different dates in Europe. For example, in Romania, these promotions take place in early November, while in Poland and the Baltic states they are closer to the end of November. Therefore, in general, November in Europe brings us revenues of up to EUR 200 thousand, and the figure is growing,” he said.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing high-quality food for cats and dogs under the Optimeal, Delickcious, Club 4 Paws, Woof! My Love. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU. The product range includes more than 650 items. Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the TOP-50 global pet food producers and TOP-20 most dynamic pet food brands. Kormotech sells products of its own brands and its partners’ own brands to 46 countries.
The Kormotech Group of companies ended 2024 with $162.7 million in turnover, which is 6.5% more than in 2023. In total, last year the group of companies sold 83 thousand tons of dry and wet diets for cats and dogs, which is almost 7.5% more than in 2023.
Kormotech Group aims to generate more than half of its sales in foreign markets and reach a revenue of EUR 500 million by 2028.
These plans were announced by Yuriy Bykoriz, Managing Director of Kormotech’s Central and Eastern Europe region, in an interview withInterfax Ukraine.
“The Kormotech Group of companies finished 2024 with $162.7 million in turnover, which is 6.5% more than in 2023. Last year, we sold a total of 83 thousand tons of dry and wet diets for cats and dogs, which is almost 7.5% more than in 2023. In terms of total volume for the next five years, we want to grow by an average of about 30-35% per year to achieve our ambition of half a billion euros in revenue in 2028,” Bykoriz said.
At the end of 2024, the ratio in tons of products was 28% export / 72% domestic market.
According to Bykoriz, in the coming years, the growth rate abroad should be significantly higher than in Ukraine.
“By 2028, we want to have more than half of our volumes in foreign markets. We also have a super ambition to change the ratio and have two-thirds abroad and one-third in Ukraine,” he said.
According to Bikoriz, the focus of the coming years is on the markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), primarily Romania, Bulgaria, the Baltic States, Poland and Greece.
The development strategy of Kormotech, a leading Ukrainian pet food manufacturer, includes the use of green energy, and the company aims to provide up to 15% of its own generation by 2027, Kormotech’s Chief Operating Officer Igor Paranyak said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Our strategy includes steps towards the use of green energy. At the moment, we have already implemented a project to install a 630 kW solar station at the first factory in Lithuania. At the new factory (Kėdainiai, Lithuania), we also plan to install solar stations on the roof of the factory; given the rather large area, almost 17 thousand square meters, it will be a large SPP. It is not part of this (EBRD loan – IF-U) project, we will implement it separately, but we plan to have 15% of our own electricity generation by 2027,” Paraniak said.
As reported, Kormotech has started construction of a new wet animal feed plant in Lithuania, in which it is investing EUR 60 million, of which EUR 40 million was provided by the EBRD. The planned capacity of the new plant is 40 thousand tons, and 200 jobs will be created. The first phase of the plant is scheduled to be launched in the second quarter of 2026, and all four phases by the end of 2028.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing high-quality food for cats and dogs under the Optimeal, Delickcious, Club 4 Paws, Woof, Meow! My Love. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU. The product range includes more than 650 items. Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the TOP-50 global pet food producers and TOP-20 most dynamic pet food brands. Kormotech sells products of its own brands and its partners’ own brands to 46 countries.
The Kormotech Group of companies ended 2024 with $162.7 million in turnover, which is 6.5% more than in 2023. In total, last year the group of companies sold 83 thousand tons of dry and wet diets for cats and dogs, which is almost 7.5% more than in 2023.
Leading Ukrainian pet food manufacturer Kormotech has started construction of a new plant in Lithuania, in which it will invest EUR60 million, of which EUR40 million is provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), according to Vitaliy Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
“I took part in the ceremony of laying the capsule for the expansion of the Kormotech plant. This is the largest Ukrainian producer of animal feed, which not only conquers the European market but also continues to scale thanks to its powerful entrepreneurial energy. Today, it is important for Ukrainian business to develop its presence in European markets without losing momentum,” he wrote on Telegram.
According to the minister, Kormotech is expanding its existing facilities in Lithuania, where it will create 200 new jobs to complement the team of 170 Ukrainian and Lithuanian specialists and the development of related industries. In addition, the company’s products in this country will have some Ukrainian components.
“One of our priorities in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is to open new markets and expand existing ones. I am confident that Kormotech’s production facilities will enable other Ukrainian companies to enter the European market or increase their presence there,” Koval said and thanked the Lithuanian partners for supporting Ukrainian entrepreneurs who are becoming part of the European economy.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing cat and dog food under the Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Woof! and Meow! brands since 2003. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, with a product range of over 650 items. Its focus on exports and geographical diversification helps it withstand the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In 2023, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 22.5% to $152 million from $124 million in 2022. The ratio of sales abroad and in Ukraine in tons is now 31% to 69%, respectively (in 2022 it was 28% to 72% in Ukraine).
Kormotech brands grew most dynamically in the markets of Romania (+35%), Poland (+11%) and Moldova (+11%).
Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the world’s top 50 pet food producers and one of the top 21 most dynamic pet food brands. The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Olena and Rostyslav Vovk.
Sister and brother Olena and Rostyslav Vovk created an advisory board for their family business, the biotechnology group Enzym Group and the cat and dog food manufacturer Kormotech, in 2024 and intend to transform it into a full-fledged supervisory board, Olena Vovk said.
“An advisory board is already an element of pure corporate governance. As of now, it is an advisory board that follows all the principles of a supervisory board. This is a transitional stage that should be completed after one term – formally moving from an advisory board to a supervisory board,” she said at the VII International Corporate Directors Forum organized in Kyiv last week by the Corporate Governance Professional Association (CGPA).
Vovk clarified that the advisory board began active work at the beginning of this year, and she and her brother had been preparing and assembling it for two years.
The business co-owner noted that the board has three main tasks, the first of which is the development of both businesses.
“Both businesses are developing in their own way and require certain expertise, which my brother and I already understand that we do not have and our management teams do not have either. It is better to get this expertise from the market, from experienced independent directors,” she explained.
Vovk emphasized that Enzyme and Kormotech are very active in international markets, so independent directors should be people with experience in these markets, and ideally, with an understanding of the Ukrainian context. For example, she clarified, Enzym exports 55-60% of its products.
“In addition, each of them has their own functional expertise, which is very necessary for us as owners, and also necessary for our teams, i.e. they play a certain role of coaching, an outside view of the areas that we need to pump up, or improve, or even open,” added the co-owner of the company, who oversees Enzym’s business, handing over the CEO position to former COO Andriy Tsehelyk, while her brother heads the Kormotech business.
At the same time, she noted that the advisory board does not develop a strategy for the business, but rather coordinates it and helps management teams improve it.
Vovk said that another task of the advisory board is to ensure business security, as both the main business units – Enzyme and Kormotech – are very ambitious, so it is necessary to balance the investment cycles of each business, because “there is only one pocket.”
The third task of the advisory board is to help build professional corporate governance so that future generations of the family can act as responsible shareholders. According to Ms. Vovk, the chairman of the board is a representative of a large Finnish family company with extensive experience in transferring business between different generations.
In addition, she said that the general governance scheme of Enzyme and Kormotech also includes a shareholders’ agreement signed between the owners, a family council and executive boards at each business unit, which have also undergone significant changes recently, including the creation of committees to better respond to market changes and implement development plans.
Vovk recalled that the business was originally founded by their father, Orest Vovk, director of the Lviv yeast plant, in 1993, and was taken over by his children Olena and Rostyslav after his death in 2014.
“In fact, we have been in the process of forming a corporate governance system for our family business almost all this time,” Vovk stated.
According to her, they, as shareholders of a family business, delegate some of their rights to their families so that future generations are aware of the responsibility they will have and participate in discussing and resolving business issues.
Vovk clarified that at this stage, she and her brother are active in the business and understand very well what is happening in the operations, and the children do not plan to enter the operations now.
She also emphasized that the family council should also select and approve the head of the advisory board.
As reported, in 2023, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 22.5% to $152 million from $124 million in 2022. The share of exports increased to 31% from 28% a year earlier.
In 2023, Enzym’s revenue increased by 32.3% to UAH 1 billion 838.15 million, while operating income increased almost 2.3 times to UAH 385.99 million.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing Kormotech, a leading Ukrainian pet food producer, with a financing package to increase exports and geographic diversification by building a second pet food plant in Lithuania, the EBRD press service reports.
According to the release, the total cost of the Kormotech project will be EUR63 million.
The allocated financing package is a EUR40 million A/B syndicated loan, of which EUR20 million will be provided by the Dutch SDG-focused asset management fund ILX Fund.
The bank has previously provided EUR 15 million to Kormotech Group, a long-standing EBRD client, for the construction of its first plant in Lithuania, which began operations in June 2020. The bank also provided a EUR3.3 million loan to the company to replenish working capital during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The EBRD loan is accompanied by grant financing, including a grant from the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund, which partially covers the costs of external lawyers. The grant funding will also partially cover the cost of new workplace equipment that will create new livelihoods for groups that need more attention, including women and people with disabilities. This component is being implemented as part of the EBRD’s new program aimed at stimulating capital investment.
The loan is provided to the Group’s holding company Vengast Investments Ltd (Cyprus) and its subsidiary in Lithuania, Kormotech UAB.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war in 2022, the bank has provided EUR 5 billion to the Ukrainian economy and agreed with shareholders to increase capital by EUR 4 billion, which will allow it to continue lending at current levels during the war and further increase volumes during the full-scale recovery phase.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing cat and dog food under the Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Woof! and Meow! brands since 2003. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, with a product range of over 650 items. Its focus on exports and geographic diversification helps it withstand the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The new project will also help Kormotech strengthen its human resources and skills development efforts in light of the current challenging situation on the Ukrainian labor market, including creating new employment and training opportunities for women, veterans, and other groups that require more attention. It will also enable Kormotech to improve energy efficiency.
In 2023, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 22.5% to $152 million from $124 million in 2022. The ratio of sales abroad and in Ukraine in tons is now 31% to 69%, respectively (in 2022 it was 28% to 72% in Ukraine).
Kormotech brands grew most dynamically in the markets of Romania (+35%), Poland (+11%) and Moldova (+11%).
Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the world’s top 50 pet food producers and one of the top 21 most dynamic pet food brands. The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Olena and Rostyslav Vovk.
