Ukrainian cat and dog food manufacturer Kormotech is investing EUR14 million to expand its production in Ukraine and Lithuania during 2022-2023, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
Reportedly, some of the projects are already being implemented and some are planned to be implemented by the end of 2023. Investments in the Lithuanian plant in 2022-2023 will total EUR 5.4 million, and in Ukrainian plants for wet and dry feed by the end of this year will be about EUR 8.5 million.
The wet fodder production capacity at the Kedainiai Kormotech plant in Lithuania is expected to increase by 25%, and at the Ukrainian plant by 65%. At the Lithuanian plant, the company has integrated new technology for the production of wet feed in the premium and super-premium segments.
In Ukraine, the company is expanding the capacity of its wet feed factory, modernizing 50% of its existing equipment and automating manual processes, the company said. In addition, it plans to modernize its dry feed plant in 2023.
According to the press release, Kormotech continues to improve the efficiency of existing production and business processes.
According to the press release, last year it began working on a “zero losses” program to reduce all irreversible losses at the plant to zero or to recycle them. A complete energy audit of the production in the areas of heat recovery, thermal insulation and the system of monitoring of energy consumers in the processes was carried out. Kormotech began implementing the SAP ERP system in the cloud, which will help focus on innovation, reduce operating costs and improve process efficiency.
Kormotech’s 2022 results show a 12 percent increase in turnover to $124 million from $110 million in 2021. The goal in 2023 is to reach a turnover figure of $150 million and increase the export/Ukraine ratio to 30%/70% from 24%/76% previously through synchronous growth of markets, the report said.
LLC “Kormotech” is the leading Ukrainian manufacturer of food for cats and dogs, occupies the 51st position in the world ranking of petfood producers and the seventh in the ranking of the most dynamic petfood brands. Kormotech sells its own brands and partner brands in 40 countries.
The company has two dry and wet food plants in the Lviv region and a plant in Lithuania. The company produces products for cats and dogs under its own brands Optimeal, CLUB 4 PAWS (TM “Meow!” and “Woof!”) and in private label direction. The assortment has more than 650 items.
The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Elena and Rostislav Vovk.
An overweight street cat named Gacek has become so popular among tourists in the Polish city of Szczecin that he has been given a separate tag on Google Maps marked as a “landmark,” according to Oddity Central.
“A black and white overweight street cat living in the Polish city of Szczecin received a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars based on thousands of reviews on Google search engine and became the most popular tourist attraction in the city. Gacek also got a separate mark on Google Maps,” the portal writes.
As the publication specifies, Gacek has almost 2.6 thousand reviews on Google, more than any other attraction in Szczecin.
As the portal notes, Szczecin is a medieval city in northwestern Poland, where many tourists come to visit the Pomeranian Duke’s Castle and Jan Kasprowicz Park.
“However, all these sights pale in comparison to Gacek, who is also called a cat in a tuxedo because of his coloring. He first became publicly known in 2020 when a local news portal showed the cat in a video that went viral on social media,” writes Oddity Central.
According to a local resident, Gacek first appeared on Kaszubska Street in downtown Szczecin about 10 years ago. The locals liked him, many of whom fed him, so he soon turned from a skinny Gacek into a charming fatty.
Kormotech LLC (Lviv region), a large Ukrainian manufacturer of cat and dog feed, has made the first shipments of cat feed under a private label to the UK and Finland.
According to the press service of the company, 19 tonnes of dry cat feed were delivered to the UK and 5,000 tonnes to Finland. The company plans to supply wet feed to Britain, which makes up 75% of the feed market in this country, and export products under its own trademark to these countries after obtaining the necessary certification.
“Northern Europe has a very developed market, and the largest share in this market belongs to super premium feeds. The UK is among the ten most powerful pet food markets in the world. Our goal is to enter the top 50 industry leaders in the world by 2023. Now our product exports account for about 15%, and we need to triple this figure to achieve our goal,” Ihor Paraniak, the production director of Kormotech, said.
The company planned in 2019 to make the first private label shipments to the UK and Finland, as well as to enter U.S. retail chains (now products are sold through Amazon in this country).
Kormotech exports products to over 20 countries, including France, Estonia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Poland.
