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Kormotech, a family-owned pet food manufacturer from Ukraine, has completed its new factory in Lithuania. The wet pet food plant in Kėdainiai Free Economic Zone (FEZ) will help the company to increase production capacity and reach customers in other countries more efficiently. The investment exceeds €10 million.
Kormotech aims to be among the top 50 players in the global pet food industry by 2023. To reach this goal, the company plans to increase its revenue and capitalization by three times. According to Rostyslav Vovk, owner and CEO of Kormotech, the plant in Kėdainiai marks an important strategic step towards international expansion.
“Kėdainiai FEZ offers us multiple benefits. First, there is the geographical advantage that paves the road for further expansion in Europe. Second, we get favourable conditions for doing business, including income tax breaks for the first 10 years of operations,” says Rostyslav Vovk.
The company believes that their plant will stimulate further development of local raw materials suppliers needed for the production of pet food.
“Lithuania offers a well-developed infrastructure, and the Kormotech factory is an excellent example of how competitive Lithuania’s regions are in the global context,” states Marius Skuodis, Vice-Minister of Economy and Innovation. “The success story of Kėdainiai is also an excellent example of how valuable local, highly educated talents are.”
Giedrius Valuckas, member of the board of Kedainiai Free Economic Zone emphasizes that Kormotech managed to successfuly complete the investment project, although, due to pandemic, the final stages had to be executed remotely. “Modern, highly automated plant of highest standards employs local specialists of various competencies; the company already cooperates with local service providers and the supply chain, thus contributing to the development of the region.“
Kormotech controls quality at 60 production touchpoints. All of their products meet European quality standards and are compliant with FSSC 22000. The company also plans to have its Lithuanian plant BRC and IFS certified.
“The new plant is 90% automated and requires 61 employees. Despite the lockdown, we installed equipment from the world’s leading manufacturers – Selo, Somic, Lan, Karshnell, Steriflow, Ishida and others”, says Igor Paranyak, Chief Production Officer at Kormotech.
According to Paranyak, the company seeks to automatize as many processes as possible. The inclusion of robots in the production line will help the Lithuanian plant to reach an annual capacity of 20,000 tons.