Svetlana Lavrentevna has been working at the company for about 20 years.

During this time, she has not only developed the necessary knowledge, skills and
abilities, but has also instructed many young laboratory assistants, of whom there
are currently 16. The company management thanks her for her many years of
work and is confident of the quality of “TERRA” products in excellent hands.
Back then, it was all a new story.
The first packers were Valentina Yakovenko, Svetlana Sklyarova (Galkina),
Lyudmila Zablotskaya and others.
At first they packed production manually in cardboard boxes, then with the
help of the packing machine, in the bunker of which groats were poured from
sacks. The machine dosed the boxes and the packers weighed every fifth pack. If
there was a malfunction, a mechanic eliminated the problem.
The first guards - Ivan Sergeyevich Yasinsky, Anatoly Grigoryevich
Prikhodko
Yuri Prokopenko and Yuri Gluschenko were the drivers of the first KAMAZ.
The first certificate was obtained.
The first partners appeared, many of whom TERRA cooperates with today.
From the memories of Andrey Viktorovich Panchenko (private businessman,
Kharkov): "I remember that this company 20 years ago was a small enterprise.
The initiative group of founders had ambitious plans. At that time they had a
different production, it was five orders of magnitude lower than today. A little
later, when we started making soups from pea flakes, " TERRA" was the only
company not only in the Kharkiv region, but also in the surrounding regions,
which produced these cereals, and the price to the quality ratio was in the first
place. Their pricing policy was acceptable to us.
The first "Slavyanskiy Bazaar" exhibition.
One of the first farm managers with whom "TERRA" began working with was
Evgeny Antonovich Ovsyannikov. His wife, head accountant Alla Petrovna
Ovsyannikova, remembers: "We had started farming in 2000, leased 105 land
parcels and started growing oats, wheat, millet and barley. It was hard for
everyone, but we helped each other. "Terra" gave us grain to sow, we sowed, and
then we sold them what we had grown. We still have that connection to this day.
I believe it was in 2004. We had a good harvest of grain and Evgeny
Antonovich offered to buy it from us, but it turned out that they had no money
because all the money had been invested in production reorganization and we
had no storage, so we lent them the wheat, which saved us and them".
The managers had a bad experience in finding their way. As Winston Churchill
remarked: 'Success is the transition from one setback to another with growing
enthusiasm'.
Large production gives rise to waste grain, traditionally sold to the public as
fodder for farm animals. "TERRA" grew quickly and produced more and more
fodder, with supply exceeding demand. Unsold fodder products were
accumulating in the company's warehouses and it was decided to offer them to
large livestock farms. A contract was made with one of those farms to supply 100
tonnes of fodder in exchange for the grain of the next harvest. The settlement was
difficult, taking a very long time, so further development in this direction was in
doubt. The fodder continued to accumulate.
Now the head of another farm suggested paying for the fodder with pork. At
once the idea arose to set up a cattle farm of one's own. We proposed to this
manager to pay for the fodder not with meat, but with live piglets. We struck a
deal, the contract was concluded. The piglets were planned to be delivered in six
months. We found a place for them to live, but it was not possible to rent it. It
was necessary to look for a way out very quickly - piglets would be supplied in 3
months. And then it was decided to erect the farm building by themselves. The
construction was headed by Ivan Sergeyevich Yasinsky. The building was built.
They chose personnel for the cattle-breeding complex.
According to the rules of breeding of farm animals when weaning pigs from
sows the young animals become stressed. And at that time the first vaccination
should be carried out. It was decided to do this vaccination at the supplier's farm.
We went with syringes... and there were no piglets and no farmer. The piglets and
the sows have been taken away for debt, and the owner is on the run. So what's
to be done? We've got the building but no piglets, and the feed is complete.
It was decided to go forward with the business after all. The nephew farms had
to buy elite young cattle for feeding. The firm's economy allowed it. The balance
came on the scale. But in 2001 there was a meat price collapse. They could not
hand over the elite piglets to the meat processing plant almost free of charge, so
they were kept for the breeding stock. Another farm was built for this purpose. In
about 2002 there was a price collapse and the piglets were sold. They stopped
selling them and all the piglets were left for feeding. As a result, the herd reached
800 head, so a third farm had to be built urgently.
One of the farm workers, Andriy Ivanochko, recalls how lovingly they looked
after the animals.
Everything was going as planned. But a year later, the vet's non-professional
actions resulted in a second farrow being born dead. Two years of pig farming
had caused about 2 million UAH in damages. The case was wrapped up and
closed. The farms were dismantled and the equipment sold so that there would be
no more temptation to return to the business.
Our food substance should be a healing agent, our healing agent should be a
food substance.
Hippocrates
A century later, the relevance of Hippocrates' words has taken on a deeper and
more concrete meaning. Demographic, ecological, economic, social conditions
have made man a hostage of his circumstances, making his life a random process,
where the quality of food is not always given the attention it deserves.
To help to solve this one of the main problems of the society, company "
TERRA " together with scientists, technologists and journalists of Ukraine in
2002 has created the effective program of practical realization of principles of
health improvement of the population by means of food under the name " Healthy
Nutrition ".
 The main goal of the programme is to promote public health through the
introduction of new principles of rational nutrition and to stimulate the production
and consumption of high quality, healthy products.
The symbol of the programme is the picture of a leaf and drops representing
nature and health. Since March 2002 this symbol was given to the products of
TM "TERRA" that do not contain any harmful substances, meet all physiological
needs of the body (taking into account age, activities and other factors), provide
a healthy and long life.
An expert board consisting of leading specialists in the field of technology and
organization of nutrition, doctors and scientists was created to objectively assess
the compliance of product properties with the requirements of the programme.
Since the foundation of the company, it has grown considerably
geographically. The office is in the city, the cereal shop is a few miles away from
the cereal shop, and the packing section is at a considerable distance from all the
production facilities. The company management continued to plan further
development, because you can't build a serious business without it - you have to
keep moving forward!
The second five year plan
In January 2003, the company acquired the dilapidated production facilities of
the then non-operating " Agricultural Machinery", and in February of the same
year began their reconstruction. Building works were carried out around the
clock.
The importance of the time was that the shutdown of the old shop and the
launch of production in the new building had to be completed in the summer
before the new harvest in a maximum of one month. That is, practically without
stopping.
The plans were big. All earned funds were invested in the company's
development. But it was not enough, so in 2003 the first bank loan was taken.
Let's look at the situation from the point of view of the current owner of his
own construction company, Serhii Ilyin, who together with Oleksandr Yasynskyi
and Serhii Prykhodko studied in parallel classes: "I have known the guys since
school, we even fought in high school. Our partnership began during the building
of the pig complex. I came from the North, went to get a job. Oleksandr wrote a
recommendation: "Hire". I came with this paper to Ivan Indykov, who was
engaged in the construction of the second and third pig farms, and said that
Oleksandr Ivanovych had sent me to work. He said to me: "And who are you?" -
"I am a 5th category welder". He said: "Your back is wide, you will be carrying
slate. I did it for two days, then I was transferred to a welder.
Since then, we have been working together constantly. I remember, in
December 2002, we came here, where "TERRA" is now, with Igor Ivanovych.
There was snow up to the waist. We literally climbed into the territory. There
were some old garages, ruins. Igor: "Are you not afraid to lead the building?" -
"I don't know, I'll try". One hundred builders answered the ad. We chose twenty,
created a team and the work began.
The old walls were torn down, foundations were poured and new ones were
built. There was no power here, we worked by hand. Frosts were as low as 20
degrees and salt was added to the mortar. Salt was carried in bags. On the
grounds there was a water tap and we had to carry water in buckets and jugs. It
was difficult, of course. Building is a problem: either the taps break down or there
are not sufficient blocks, but we managed to cope with it! I am grateful to the
heads of the firm, who believed me. And who was I? A welder. Now I am the
owner of a construction company".
In the summer of 2003, all equipment, including the packaging line, was
dismantled, transported and assembled in the new workshop.
The new workplaces and new offices for the company's employees were
created here. A new gas boiler house was built and commissioned, providing heat
and steam for the accommodation and production facilities. To ensure a clean
water supply, a deep artesian well was drilled on site. In this way, all divisions of
the company were brought together under one roof. The working conditions of
employees were improved: locker rooms and showers were arranged, the factory
canteen started its work.
The same year, the first shipments of products were sent to Azerbaijan.
Since 2004, the company started to actively participate in various international
exhibitions.
In 2005, a new country, Turkmenistan, was added to the international market.
In 2006, the company carried out a radical technical reequipment of its
production facilities, replacing outdated equipment with what was then state-of-
the-art high-tech equipment. The latest capacity had been installed.
The first exports to Israel were realised.
This year the packaging for the entire range of products was replaced by
something more modern and better.
2007 The "TERRA" brand is rebranded. A new brand mark was designed
(designers - members of the Artists' Union and the Ukrainian Designers' Union,
Mykhailo and Olha Kvitka).
The first country of the European Union - Czech Republic became interested
in " Terra " products. The market was also expanded to Georgia and Uzbekistan.
Thus the comments of the Lithuanian partner Boris Mazuch played a positive role
in launching Terra on the international market.
Third five-year plan
The company turned 10 years old in 2008.
Every year the company invested all its profit in development: production was
extended and modernized, new workshops were built and working conditions
were continually improved.
In the year of its tenth anniversary, the company undertook the large-scale
construction of a new packing facility, complete with modern facade equipment
from the company " Basis "; the composition of packed products, a new modern
laboratory, amenity rooms and bio-boiler rooms.
The same year the company Citech Ukraine BV (the official representative of
the Dutch company TNO Certification BV) carried out the installation of quality
management system according to the international standards ISO "TERRA" was
awarded the international certificate № S-2008-9297, also the company received
a registration certificate for "Terra".
An active presence at different fairs and exhibitions continued.
Belarus, the USA, Canada, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Armenia were added to
the list of importing countries.
New automatic filling lines for cereals and cereal flakes, including a highly
technological line for dosing and filling multicomponent mixtures, starting from
30 grams, have been purchased and installed.
The production has improved every year. For example, let's take such an
operation as husk separation. According to Ivan Sergeyevich Jasinský's
recollections: "At the beginning, in 1998, the first corncracker was able to
perform only the simplest operations and peas and barley hulls had to be blown
with an ordinary household fan. A suction tower was then purchased to separate
out the light impurities. This operation is now fully automated.
Modern equipment automates the most complex operations from mechanical
cleaning, separating the grain into small and large fractions and drying to a high-
precision photo-separator, which "with its own eyes" sees the rejected grains and
removes them. An important part of the quality-improvement structure is the
fitting of metal detectors, which enable metal inclusions in the finished product
to be completely eliminated.
In 2010, a modern line for the manufacture of instant flakes was purchased and
installed at the plant. The production technology is based on the use of pre-
moistening of corn and its subsequent heating with infrared rays.
A new product type was developed: "Terra" groats in a cooking pouch; instant
porridges with fruit, vegetable, mushroom and meat natural additives, which do
not contain preservatives and other toxic substances.
In 2010, Terra's production capacity was up to 1,500 tonnes of cereals and
1,500 tonnes of flakes a month. The production area was more than 3,000 square
metres, with 10,000 square metres of storage space. The company employed 250
people.
In the same year, products were exported to Africa (Kenya).
The management has been constantly focusing on upgrading of the truck fleet,
which up to 2005 consisted mainly of second hand KAMAZ trucks and two
second-hand foreign cars. In 2007, two new KAMAZ were bought. Their service
life was 5 years, and they turned out to be not the best vehicles available at that
time. We decided to refuse the services of soviet car industry.
In 2010 we bought three new Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks for transportation
of raw materials and in 2011 we bought six new MAN trucks for transportation
of finished products.
Today, there are 20 vehicles in the fleet. There are 31 drivers and service
personnel on staff. In addition to heavy-duty equipment, the company also has
construction equipment: a 20-ton crane, a front-end loader, a tractor, etc.
In 2011 the company "TERRA" won the tender for the supply of groats for the
breweries "Carlsberg Ukraine". For more than three years many beers produced
by these breweries were brewed from our barley pearl groats.
The foreign market expanded to Kyrgyzstan, Croatia, Germany and Slovakia.
In 2012, the first direct contract for supplying products to the Fozzy Group
trading network was concluded.
In the same year, the company began marketing its products in Denmark and
Rumania.
"TERRA is constantly in search of new, interesting, promising and at the same
time quality and economical solutions.
Thus, in order to reduce the amount of husks which are not used anywhere, and
besides there were problems with their disposal, in 2008 the company started to
use holo grain oats for the production of oat flakes. Incidentally, TERRA was the
first company involved in the introduction and development of this crop in the
crop rotations of agricultural producers. However, a poor harvest in 2010 forced
a return to conventional husked oats.
 In 2009, supply problems with Russian gas disrupted several contracts for the
sale of oat flakes to Belarus. The underproduction benefited competitors, who
stepped up their activities in this area. The circumstances led to the abandonment
of the gas-fired boiler plant and the construction of a bio-boiler plant, which is
based on the combustion of husks of grain. The heat and energy produced is used
for production purposes, space heating and the greenhouse.
The company has saved over 7 million cubic metres of gas for Ukraine during
the seven years of operation of the bio boiler plant.
The increasing complexity of production has changed the approach to working
with personnel, new professions have emerged, highly qualified specialists have
been needed and have been invited from other cities and regions.
One of the principles of the company's management is not to retreat in the face
of difficulties, not to be afraid of them, but to solve them comprehensively with
a view to the future.
For example, in 2012, there was a problem with storage space for grain. There
was only one in-house storage facility, and the rent for the rented ones was
increasing year on year. Once, during an inspection of one of the leased
warehouses, Sergei and Alexander saw a small elevator for 200-300 tonnes and
embarked on the idea of building their own, but larger and more versatile one.
In the same year, a modern transport and machine shop was built to service the
machinery.
Fourth five-year plan