History
Montego Pet Nutrition was founded in early 2000 in Graaff-Reinet, South Africa, the heart of the Karoo. Built upon a strong foundation of entrepreneurial spirit, family values, quality and innovation, we’ve never stopped improving on our approach. We have consistently fine-tuned and improved our formulations as well as upgraded our factory continuously, to keep up with our passion for pet nutrition and our vision for the Montego Pet Nutrition brand.
A Legacy of Quality Pet Nutrition.
Looking back to 2000, when the foundations for Montego Pet Nutrition were laid by my father, Hannes Van Jaarsveld, I can remember the first pet store taking a chance on us, helping to fund our first batch of Montego Classic Adult with their first order based on little more than a promise and a handshake.
Today, we’ve gone from producing 65 tonnes of pet food a month to over 300 tonnes every day, and from producing just a single product, to offering 9 high-quality brands, with over 180 individual products for a wide range of market segments and appetites.
I’m immensely proud of how we’ve grown from humble beginnings as an ambitious start-up, to becoming a household name familiar to consumers countrywide and beyond as we expand our international footprint.
Looking ahead, I see a very bright future for Montego, our retailers and our loyal customers both locally and internationally.
Sincerely,
Johan van Jaarsveld
Managing Director
Our Products
While the benefits vary, all our excellent products are made using the finest ingredients, in carefully calculated proportions and according to our original recipes – then cooked to perfection in our world-class factory.
Over the years, our flagship product, Montego Classic Adult, has earned its place in South African homes for its high nutritional content, exceptional quality, great flavour and unparalleled value. Today, the Montego product family has something for every type of pet owner.
There are no less than four nutrition brands for dogs (Classic, Monty & Me, WUMA! and Karoo); three for cats (Classic, Monty & Me and Karoo) a brand of treats for dogs (Bags o’ Wags) as well as one for cats (Packs o’ Purrs), toppers (Sauce for Dogs), and pet wellness & grooming products (XenPet).
Vision
As pioneers in our industry, we aim to define what it means to be a well-loved and innovative pet care brand through our commitment to Africa, passion for our craft and genuine love for pets.
Mission
To consistently improve every aspect of our business to better serve our communities through upliftment and our customers (pets and their owners) by providing a wide range of innovative, high-quality pet care alternatives at competitive prices.
Digestibility
High digestibility is one of the benchmarks of high-quality pet food. It tells us that its preparation is authentic and that there are no ingredients that are unnecessary or out of place. It means that more vital nutrients are absorbed from smaller quantities of food and that your pets appetites are satisfied by less. It also means that less waste will end up on your lawn. To produce highly digestible nutrition, you can’t cut corners, and we never do.
Quality Production
We only use high-quality ingredients
The ingredients used in all Montego Pet Nutrition products are classified fit for human consumption, an A-grade quality that would be right at home in your pantry. The way we see it, pets are family and should be fed that way.
We Uphold high safety & hygiene standards
From the journey of our raw materials to our premises, throughout the production process, to finally stocking the shelves of the retailers that sell our products – as many as 35 quality checks are performed at various stages, every 15 minutes. This ensures that all Montego products are as safe as they can be.
We use world-class technology
The machinery used in our factory is carefully assessed, sourced and imported from pet food manufacturing leaders in Belgium, Holland & the United States. This investment in cutting-edge technology enables us to produce food to a truly world-class standard.
We Nurture Home-grown talent
As one of the largest employers in Graaff-Reinet, many of our neighbours are also our employees. They depend on us for their future prosperity as much as we depend on them for long-term growth. As such, we try to participate actively and invest in Graaff-Reinet to enrich the day-to-day lives of the people that work and live here.
Quality Assurance
To ensure that we produce at consistently high standards of quality and safety, we put our money where our mouth is with certifications from some of the strictest standards from authorities around the world.
HACCP
All processes at our veterinary-approved production facility adhere strictly to HACCP principles. These principles – developed by NASA to ensure the safety of their astronauts – require our employees to follow numerous hygiene and safety practices daily. They also require that our products undergo rigorous testing throughout the manufacturing process.
Every ingredient, from arriving at our factory to the end product, is tested in our laboratory, scanned with metal detectors, an NRI Scanner, retested and analysed many times over. HACCP compliance also requires that detailed records be kept on all precautionary measures and activities. This ensures each ingredient used in any of our products, can be traced thoughout production to as far back as the farms on which they were grown.
PFI
We are proud, active members of The Pet Food Industry Association of Southern Africa (PFI) an industry body dedicated to upholding quality standards and safety in pet nutrition through consistent regulation testing. Membership of the PFI is not compulsory, and those who have elected to become members, publicly commit to upholding international standards of quality & safety, aligning themselves with ethical and safe food manufacturing processes.
FSSC 22 000
On 28 October 2015, we received a FSSC 22 000 certification for the manufacturing of dry pet food for dogs and cats, as well as fish feed. This means that the Montego Pet Nutrition manufacturing facility, production processes, products and food safety management system comply with all international standards and are among the very best in the world.
These strict quality control measures ensure that all our products consistently meet the guaranteed analysis stipulated on our packaging – it’s how our customers know that they can trust Montego Pet Nutrition products to be just as safe for their pets as they are nutritious and delicious.