Kormotech Becomes the First Ukrainian Pet Food Company to Receive BRCGS Certification

RCGS is one of the world’s most authoritative standards for food production safety and quality, recognized by leading global retailers and manufacturers. It sets 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 more than 22,000 production sites across more than 130 countries, and its requirements are recognized by leading international brands and retailers.

For Kormotech, receiving the certification became part of its long-term production strategy and the next stage in developing its quality management system in Ukraine. The company already has experience operating in line with BRCGS requirements at its Kėdainiai, Lithuania, facility, which has been certified to this standard since 2021.

Every year, Kormotech will undergo a repeat audit and confirm compliance with the standard as part of the regular certification cycle. Kormotech has become the first Ukrainian producer of food for cats and dogs to certify a production site in Ukraine under the BRCGS standard.

Kormotech operates three production facilities — two in Ukraine and one in Lithuania — with another plant in Lithuania currently under construction. Their combined production capacity exceeds 102,000 tonnes per year. The Ukrainian facilities also operate in accordance with FSSC 22000 requirements, while the Lithuanian plant is certified to BRCGS and IFS Food standards.

According to Ihor Paraniak, Chief Operating Officer at Kormotech, preparing the Ukrainian facility was more challenging because the production sites in Ukraine were built much earlier than the plant in Lithuania, which was designed from the outset to meet international requirements for production flow organization.

“When we built the facility in Lithuania, we incorporated BRCGS requirements into the planning of production processes from the very beginning: the movement of raw materials and finished products, employee movement, sanitary zones, and risk control. The Ukrainian production facilities were built earlier, so achieving certification required us to adapt existing processes and systematically address non-conformities. The A grade confirms that the facility is capable of operating at a high international level,” explains Igor Paranyak.

“A certification audit assesses not an individual product or production line, but the entire food safety and quality management system of the facility. The A grade confirms that the production processes comply with the requirements of the BRCGS standard and that the implemented control systems are effective,” said Serhii Plichko, Lead Auditor, Bureau Veritas Certification Ukraine.

What does certification mean for Kormotech?

BRCGS assesses not an individual product or production line, but the entire safety and quality management system at the facility. 

The audit covers, in particular:

• supplier and incoming raw material control;
• compliance with hygiene and sanitation requirements;
• production risk management;
• product traceability at every stage;
• packaging, storage, and logistics control;
• the system for responding to potential non-conformities;
• safety culture and team responsibility.

Certification also creates additional opportunities for cooperation with international retail chains and partners for whom BRCGS compliance is a mandatory or priority requirement when selecting manufacturers. At the same time, for Kormotech, it is primarily a tool for continuous process improvement rather than a one-time formal inspection.

“For several years in a row, we have confirmed high BRCGS ratings at our facility in Lithuania. Now our Ukrainian production facility has confirmed the same international level. For us, this is an important signal: even during the full-scale war, the Ukrainian team is capable of implementing complex global standards and meeting the requirements of the global market,” Igor Paranyak concludes.

Information:

Bureau Veritas Certification Ukraine is the Ukrainian division of Bureau Veritas, one of the world’s leading companies in inspection, testing, and certification. The company has operated in Ukraine since 2003 and provides conformity assessment services across industry, agriculture, construction, and other sectors.