The Ukrainian group of companies Kormotech, a manufacturer of dog and cat food, has become the first in Ukraine to receive international certification for compliance with the BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety. Following an audit by Bureau Veritas Certification Ukraine, the company received an “A” rating, Kormotech’s press service told the “Interfax-Ukraine” news agency.
“During the certification audit, it is not a single product or production line that is evaluated, but rather the company’s entire safety and quality management system. The ‘A’ rating we received demonstrates that our production processes comply with the requirements of the BRCGS standard and that the control systems we have implemented are effective,” said Serhiy Plichko, Lead Auditor at Bureau Veritas Certification Ukraine.
BRCGS is one of the most authoritative international standards for food safety and quality, establishing requirements for the entire production process: from supplier verification and raw material control to hygiene, product traceability, packaging, storage, and risk management. The standard is applied at over 22,000 production sites in more than 130 countries, and its requirements are recognized by leading international brands and retailers.
According to Kormotech’s Chief Operating Officer, Ihor Paranyak, obtaining the certificate was part of Kormotech’s long-term production strategy and the next stage in the development of the quality management system in Ukraine. Each year, Kormotech will undergo a re-audit and confirm its compliance with the standard as part of the regular certification cycle. The company already has experience operating in accordance with BRCGS requirements at its facility in Kedainiai, Lithuania, which has been certified under this standard since 2021.
According to Paranyak, preparing the Ukrainian facility was more challenging because the production facilities in Ukraine were established much earlier than the plant in Lithuania, which was designed from the outset to meet international requirements for organizing production flows.
“During the construction of the facility in Lithuania, we incorporated BRCGS requirements into the planning of production processes from the very beginning: the flow of raw materials and finished products, employee movement, sanitary zones, and risk control. The Ukrainian production facilities were built earlier, so to obtain certification, we had to adapt existing processes and systematically eliminate nonconformities. The A rating we received confirms that the company is capable of operating at a high international standard,” explains Paranyak.
Certification creates additional opportunities for cooperation with international retail chains and partners for whom BRCGS compliance is a mandatory or priority criterion for selecting manufacturers. At the same time, for Kormotech, this is first and foremost a tool for continuous process improvement, rather than a one-time formal audit.
“For several years in a row, we have maintained high BRCGS ratings at our facility in Lithuania. Now, our Ukrainian production facility has also achieved this same international standard. For us, this is an important signal: even amid a full-scale war, our Ukrainian team is capable of implementing complex global standards and meeting the demands of the global market,” concludes Paranyak.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing high-quality cat and dog food since 2003. The company operates three production facilities—two in Ukraine and one in Lithuania (another plant in that country is currently under construction). Total production capacity exceeds 102,000 metric tons per year, and the product range includes over 750 items. Kormotech is the market leader in Ukraine and ranks among the top 50 global pet food manufacturers; the company consistently ranks among the fastest-growing pet food brands. The group’s products are available in more than 50 countries worldwide, both under its own brands—Optimeal, Delickcious, CLUB 4 PAWS, My Love, Meow! Woof!—and under its partners’ private labels.
Bureau Veritas Certification Ukraine is the Ukrainian division of the international company Bureau Veritas, one of the world’s leaders in inspection, testing, and certification. The company has been operating in Ukraine since 2003 and provides conformity assessment services in industry, agriculture, construction, and other sectors.
The Ukrainian group of companies Kormotech, a manufacturer of dog and cat food, continues to expand its on-site solar power generation at its production facility in Prylbychi, Lviv Region. The commissioning of a 366-kW ground-mounted solar power plant is scheduled for May, according to the company’s press service.
“The experience of leading European manufacturers confirms that on-site solar power generation at industrial facilities is becoming the industry standard. Kormotech is moving purposefully in this direction; our strategic goal by 2028 is to cover at least 15% of our electricity consumption through our own generation,” said Chief Power Engineer Yuriy Komprychevsky.
As previously reported, on July 2, 2024, Kormotech commissioned a 383 kW rooftop solar power plant. On June 6, 2025, the plant was modernized, after which its capacity increased to 442 kW. This made it possible to increase the volume of green electricity production.
At the same time, Kormotech’s energy team was seeking an external investor to build a ground-mounted solar power plant. Since May of last year, the company’s specialists have reviewed proposals from five companies. Following negotiations, Kormotech signed an agreement with Ecotech Invest. Under this model, the investor fully finances the construction of the plant, and the company purchases the generated electricity at a pre-agreed rate.
As of now, the company is completing the construction of a 366 kW ground-mounted solar power plant; after its launch, the total solar generation capacity at the Prilbychi facility will reach 808 kW.
According to Komprichevsky, on sunny summer days during lunchtime, the power plants will be able to cover up to 50% of the plant’s instantaneous consumption. On a monthly basis, the share of self-generated green electricity will account for about 13% of total consumption, and on an annual basis, about 8%.
Kormotech is an international family-owned company with Ukrainian roots, founded in 2003. It produces cat and dog food under the Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Delickcious, Meow!, Woof!, and My Love brands. It has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, and its product range includes over 650 items. The company’s products are available in 55 countries worldwide, both under its own brands and under the brands of partner companies.
According to published information, the company’s strategic goal is to become one of the top 30 global pet food manufacturers by 2029, with annual revenue of EUR 500 million, of which EUR 300 million is planned to come from European markets.
The Ukrainian group of companies Kormotech, a manufacturer of dog and cat food, expects revenue of approximately €200 million by the end of 2025, with exports currently accounting for 30% of sales, said co-owner and CEO Rostislav Vovk at the Forbes Ukraina Exporters Summit.
“We are currently working very hard on this (increasing the export share – IF-U). I am confident that by 2028–2029, we will increase our export sales to at least 45% of our turnover and continue to grow from there. In other words, for us, internationalization means that the majority of our revenue comes from foreign markets,” Vovk noted.
According to the CEO, the company is currently actively expanding its presence in the U.S. Last year, revenue in the U.S. market was approximately $4 million, but the plan for this year calls for growth to over $10 million. The products are already available on Amazon and the specialty retailer Chewy, as well as in 150 stores in the New York area and neighboring states. Vovk added that “this is precisely why we are in the United States—to understand which trends will reach Europe in a few years.”
Assessing competitiveness, the CEO noted that Europe currently lags behind the U.S. in innovation by five to seven years. For Ukrainian businesses, expansion is a way to “gain a foothold” to ensure the company’s stability regardless of the domestic situation in the country, energy supply issues, or veterinary risks.
In Europe, Kormotech’s strategy is focused on 15 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The priority markets are Romania, Bulgaria, and the Baltic states. In particular, in Lithuania—which the company considers its “second home market” due to the presence of its own factory there—the manufacturer already controls 10% of the market.
Vovk named Bulgaria and Romania as the most promising markets in the region, as they are growing rapidly and the company’s products are ideally suited to the needs of local customers. According to him, experience in Ukraine allows the company to anticipate competitors’ moves and the stages of development in these markets.
The company’s CEO emphasized that expansion into new markets requires long-term investment—five to eight years of operating without profit to successfully compete with multinational giants. The manufacturer continues to invest in diversification and uses its own profits for development in EU countries.
In terms of capital, Kormotech is exclusively considering an acquisition strategy and is currently seeking suitable targets. The expansion is financed through internal funds and credit lines from the EBRD and Raiffeisen Bank. At the same time, the company remains a family business: according to the “family constitution,” bringing in outside investors is only possible for a minority stake, with the owners retaining the mandatory right to buy it back in the future.
“We are building a century-old company, so we cannot afford to ‘shoot in all directions at once.’ Our path is to establish corporate governance where shareholders have systematic control, and the business develops as a large family structure, following the example of Mars or Walmart. (…) My main advice to my past self is not to expect very quick victories, not to enter Poland right away due to the extremely fierce competition in the discount market, and not to be afraid of mistakes, because without them it would be impossible to achieve what we have now,” Vovk concluded.
Kormotech is an international family-owned company with Ukrainian roots, founded in 2003. It produces cat and dog food under the brands Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Delickcious, Meow!, Woof!, and My Love. It has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, and its product range includes over 650 items. The company’s products are available in 55 countries worldwide, both under its own brands and under the brands of partner companies.
According to published information, the company’s strategic goal is to become one of the top 30 global pet food manufacturers by 2029, with annual revenue of EUR500 million, of which EUR300 million is planned to come from European markets.
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.
