Andrii Ohorodnyk, CEO at Feednova
Meat processing plants dispose of waste in various ways. For instance, some enterprises freeze them and send them for export. According to the State Statistics Service, the item “food industry residues and waste” at the end of 2019 accounts for 3% of the total export structure. This being said, the geography is quite extensive: from EU countries to India.
Other plants send waste to processing facilities, where they are used to produce high protein feed additives and animal fats. However, there are no such industries in Ukraine. That is why, Feednova is building such a facility in Busk (Lviv region). This facility is quite unique for our country, because it will accept for processing raw materials from external suppliers – plants located in eight regions of Western Ukraine.
The project was developed by the Ukrainian company Effective Investments and the Dutch company Mada Participations B.V.; investments amount to $ 20 million. In April 2020, UMG Investments joined the pool of investors.
Commissioning of the facility is planned in two stages; launch of the first line is scheduled for the end of 2020. The facility’s CEO Andrii Ohorodnyk told us more about it.
Facility layout
Latifundist.com: How did the idea of construction emerge, what stages did you have to go through to implement it?
Andrii Ohorodnyk: The idea of building this facility dates back to 2016. Then we analyzed a number of similar projects successfully implemented in other countries. We began to study the raw material base and logistics for this production, visited refineries and slaughter plants in seven regions of Ukraine. When communicating with management of these enterprises, we asked how they collected raw materials, where they disposed of it, what resources they used for this. We had to make sure that they would be able to meet our requirements.
By the way, in 1991, there were 36 meat waste processing enterprises in our country. Now there are 18 of them, of which only 8 accept “third-party” raw materials. The volume of processing in most cases is 10-12 tons per day. Only two sites process up to 20 tons.
Indeed, there are enough projects that companies implement at their own slaughter units. Some of them have installed modern equipment for recycling and disposal, while others provide primary waste treatment, freeze them and send to Asian markets. However, these efforts are clearly not enough at the countrywide scale.
It should be mentioned that for classification of cultivated areas, we also travel thousands of kilometers by car, collecting data in order to have a validation sample to check the accuracy level of this classification.
Four modern production lines and five boilers (MAVITEC, Netherlands) will be installed at our facility. This equipment will allow processing more than 220 tons of raw materials per day and produce 90 tons of finished products. Feednova will also transport raw materials from suppliers to the facility using its own resources. This is one of the main components in the business structure: to provide timely waste collection by specialized vehicles.
Facility construction
We are positive that those who work with meat should think about their main production and not about waste disposal methods.
Latifundist.com: Why is the plant being built in Lviv region?
Andrii Ohorodnyk: First, we identified three regions where we wanted to locate the facility. These are Lviv, Rivne and Khmelnitskyi regions. It was in Lviv region that we found a suitable site (9 hectares) with appropriate access roads and access to all utilities. In addition, we can hire staff for our production here. We will create about 100 new jobs.
Latifundist.com: Environmental safety of such production is always in the spotlight. How did you choose the supplier of treatment equipment?
Andrii Ohorodnyk: We started exploring the issues of proper cleaning of water drains and air in workshops, protecting the city residents. It seems easy: one mounts a filter and the case is closed. However, such things should be not done formally; they should really work.
Facility construction
We considered equipment proposed by companies from the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark and the USA. We also examined proposals of domestic companies, but, unfortunately, they did not have proper experience of participation in such projects. As a result, we signed a contract with a European supplier.
Inside the workshops, we will purify the air using a system of highly efficient biofilters. The principle of their action is that air under its own pressure passes through chipped wood, where bacteria neutralize the substances formed during the production process. In addition, additional treatment in chemical water columns will be provided.
As you can see, we have figured everything out at the stage of design already; operations of our facilities will be as safe as possible for the life and health of its staff, local residents and the natural environment.
Latifundist.com: In case of massive death of animals due to an epidemic, will you accept such raw materials? How will you build the input control system?
Andrii Ohorodnyk: Such raw materials are prohibited for acceptance at the legislative level. Our facility certainly will not work with them. We will carefully monitor their origin. The company has a laboratory, where staff which will have to take at least three samples from each batch in order to understand what products get into the bunker. This does not depend on whether the supplier has its own laboratory or not. Quality control is a must.
Latifundist.com: How safe is your business from a situation such as outbreak of bird flu, for example? Some countries have banned the import of meat and eggs from Ukraine, regardless of whether the enterprise has its laboratory or not.
Andrii Ohorodnyk: We are 100% insured. We will not sell raw meat and other unprocessed products that may have pathogenic microflora or infection.
For instance, high-protein flour, which the plant will begin to produce, will be first heated to + 152 ° C. This neutralizes any pathogenic microflora. Then the products will undergo additional sterilization for another 20 minutes.
Feednova
Latifundist.com: How do you plan to build relationships with producers and farmers?
Andrii Ohorodnyk: We have developed a flexible tariff schedule for large producers and farmers; the pricing policy will be developed depending on the amount of raw materials, required distance of transportation and the partner’s readiness to cool them. The most important thing is that everything will be completely transparent and financially attractive for our partners.
Latifundist.com: Thank you very much for the conversation!
Natalia Rodak, Latifundist.com