Under the Zap.Ravlik trademark, a family of entrepreneurs from Zaporizhzhia grows snails and produces snail fillets and pâtés. With USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) assistance, they are implementing HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) food safety system.
An ERA consultant explained what measures should be introduced in the production facility, and the entrepreneurs set to work.
First, the consultant explained why it is necessary to follow HACCP rules to the team working in the snail fillet kitchen.
“According to Ukrainian legislation, we must comply with certain requirements at work and introduce this safety system. First of all, it concerns our reputation and our partners’ trust in us and our product,” says Victoria Sorokina, co-founder of Zap.Ravlik. “We are talking not just about medical records for the staff and a change of clothing in the workshop, but more about requirements for equipment, distribution of production areas, movement of personnel in the workshop, and the arrangement of equipment. We have already divided the kitchens: in one we work with fresh fillets, which we bring straight from the snail farm; in the other we make snail pâtés and other delicacies. We also need different sinks, refrigerators, and separate containers for storing and processing products, so that the smells do not mix. This is all very important for making a quality product.”
After fulfilling all the requirements, the entrepreneurs plan to invite a company that will check the standards have been met and then issue a certificate.
“Now we deliver our products to stores and restaurants. We attach a quality certificate to every batch ordered from us. We’ll be able to declare to our partners that we also have a HACCP certificate,” says Sorokina.
The Sorokin family also have the idea to develop a franchise. They received offers to sell snails and snail products even before the war, but the entrepreneurs did not know how to organize it at the time. Now they are learning more about franchising (selling products from other entrepreneurs under the owner’s trademark).
“Before the war, we participated in many festivals and fairs, and traveled everywhere with our tiny branded company. People approached us and asked about cooperation. When the war started we had no time for this, as we had to save our business and survive ourselves. But now that our sales point in Zaporizhzhia is becoming more and more popular, the question of franchising has come up again, and entrepreneurs from different cities of Ukraine are contacting us. We are studying this issue in detail, but we need money to prepare the initial agreement for further distribution of the franchise,” says Sorokina.
The family believes that they will implement everything they plan, and after the victory of Ukraine, they will visit festivals again to offer their delicious snail products.