MADETA: Czech Dairy Leader Upholds Food Safety Standards Across Four Factories
MADETA a.s. is a Czech dairy company formed by four stand-alone factories located in the South Bohemian region. Founded in 1902 in the town of Tábor, the company has grown into the largest milk processor in the Czech Republic, processing more than 0.4 billion litres of milk every year into more than 200 different dairy products, including curds, milks, yoghurts, cheeses, and butter. MADETA exports its products to more than 15 countries across Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Upholding Food Safety Without Artificial Additives
As one of the few producers in the Czech dairy market that does not rely on artificial preservatives or emulsifiers, MADETA faces a distinct food safety challenge: maintaining product purity and consistency across four separate factories while relying only on natural colours and flavourings. The company's commitment to producing dairy products true to recipes used for more than a century means that quality control cannot be compromised by shortcuts that artificial additives might otherwise mask.
Each of MADETA's four factories — Planá nad Lužnicí, Jindřichův Hradec, Pelhřimov, and Český Krumlov — specializes in a different range of products, from natural cheeses and butter to UHT milk, curds, and blue cheese. This diversity of production lines, combined with an annual volume of more than half a billion litres of processed milk, requires food safety and quality assurance systems capable of adapting to varied product types and packaging formats across the group. All MADETA factories hold IFS certification and the CZ mark, allowing the company to trade its products across the European Union, underscoring the importance of consistent, verifiable quality standards at every stage of production.
Meeting the Standards Required for Global Food Safety Compliance
MADETA's certification framework, including IFS Food Standard and HACCP, reflects a broader commitment to internationally recognized food safety benchmarks. IFS Food Standard is validated according to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), marking one of the highest recognized levels of production process, product, and food safety quality. All of MADETA's production plants hold IFS FOOD certification with results assessed at a higher level, and the company undergoes annual recertification audits to confirm the functional and transparent management of quality and safety across its production processes.
This certification structure extends beyond production to logistics: MADETA's central refrigerated warehouses and its sister company Milkltrans, a.s., which handles transport of milk and other liquid dairy raw materials as well as truck transport of finished products, are both certified to IFS Logistics standards with higher-level assessment results. Combined with HACCP certification across all refrigerated warehouses, this creates a comprehensive quality and food safety management system spanning the full scope of MADETA's operations — from raw milk intake through to finished product delivery.
Integrating X-ray Inspection into a Multi-Factory Operation
To safeguard product quality across its four factories, MADETA employs a Mekitec X-ray inspection system as part of its broader food safety infrastructure. Operating alongside the company's IFS Food and HACCP-certified processes, the system supports MADETA's goal of delivering dairy products free of contamination while relying solely on natural ingredients, colours, and flavourings rather than artificial preservatives that might otherwise disguise quality issues.
Given the range of dairy formats produced across the group — from natural cheeses and butter at Planá nad Lužnicí to UHT milk and cream at Pelhřimov, and blue cheese at Český Krumlov — X-ray inspection provides a consistent layer of quality verification that complements each factory's existing IFS FOOD and HACCP-certified management systems. This approach aligns with MADETA's broader emphasis on maintaining state-of-the-art technology throughout its production and logistics operations, from raw milk intake through to the finished products that reach customers in more than 15 countries.
Ensuring Consistent Quality Across a Growing Export Business
MADETA's food safety infrastructure supports a production and export operation of substantial scale: the company processes more than half a billion litres of milk annually — roughly a fifth of all milk production in the Czech Republic — into 239 kinds of products. Approximately a quarter of this production is exported abroad, reaching markets across the European Union, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Maintaining IFS FOOD, IFS Logistics, and HACCP certification across all four factories and central warehouses allows MADETA to meet the regulatory and quality expectations required to trade freely across the EU and to serve customers in more than 15 countries worldwide.
By combining X-ray inspection with its existing certified quality management systems, MADETA reinforces the consistency and safety of dairy products made without artificial preservatives or emulsifiers — a standard the company has upheld for more than a century of production. This layered approach to food safety, spanning raw milk intake, processing, and logistics, supports MADETA's continued position as the largest milk processor in the Czech Republic and a trusted supplier to customers across four continents.