NASA-inspired technology and Zakarpattia sun." Ukrainians created the unique cheese-treats brand snEco

Brothers Pylyp and Vadym Hryshyn from Kharkiv founded their first business back in their student years: they developed bead embroidery kits. Today, AbrisArt-brand handicraft kits are sold on four continents. But the guys wanted to take on something unusual, something that no one in Ukraine had done yet.

After two years of experiments and hundreds of kilograms of spoiled cheese, the guys presented a unique treat — cheese you can crunch on. That's what happens when a rock musician meets technology developed by NASA! 

Due to the russian invasion, the snEco company moved its production from Kharkiv to Mukachevo. In the new location, Zakarpattia sun and new workers from different parts of Ukraine help prepare cosmic snacks.

It all started in 2015. My brother Vadym and I already had a joint business — AbrisArt, which makes embroidery kits. Things were going well, and at some point we realized we had spare money, hands, and brains to try another business project. We wanted to try our strength in something completely different and were searching for an idea that would capture us. We traveled to different countries and explored entirely different industries. For example, we considered bringing hydroponic greenhouses from Israel to Ukraine and getting into modern vegetable farming. But it didn't work out.

In 2016, Vadym and I decided to create a product that would meet the demands of a modern young person: something nutritious and chemical-free that could flavor a quick office soup, be added to a salad, or savored alongside a glass of wine or beer. Let's be honest: the idea of cheese snacks isn't new and isn't ours. We first tasted something similar in the USA. We liked it, but back then, like our customers sometimes do now, we wondered: is this really cheese? Is it just cheese? We wanted to make something similar in Ukraine.

Tons of spoiled cheese and NASA technology

It took us two years to create cheese bites that we could present to the public. Two years of experiments, searching for drying methods, and even searching for the perfect cheeses. Then there were various improvements, and that process is still ongoing.

How do we turn hard cheese into crunchy, light bites? Thanks to microwave-vacuum drying technology. NASA actually invented this technology so that the products for astronauts in orbit would weigh little while retaining high energy value. 

So these are essentially space technologies! But before we found the right equipment and set up the production process, over 2 years we ruined hundreds of kilograms of cheese… We'd get either large lumps or 'loaves' or the cheese would merge into one solid sheet. It was very exciting and interesting, though costly. And by the end of 2017 we had our first perfect cheese bites, and a year later we reached an annual turnover of UAH 3 million. That year the company produced 70 thousand packs of dried cheese, or 2 million cheese balls.

The CEO of a cheese company bought up all our snacks at a gas station

And just when we started developing our own brand, the company 'Bel Shostka Ukraine' (better known by their brand 'Vesela Korivka' / 'Laughing Cow') reached out to us. It's a story like in a movie: the CEO of the company saw our cheese bites at an OKKO gas station, tasted them, and bought up everything that was available so he could taste-test them more carefully and figure out what kind of product it was.

Later the company offered us to make cheese snacks for them. We spent half a year doing renovations to build our production according to their standards: we had to meet not only Ukrainian but also European standards. We succeeded, and our first snacks were made for the French company Groupe Bel. A year and a half later, they left the Ukrainian market, but we already knew clearly that our product was in demand and of high quality. And that pushed us to create our own brand — snEco by Prime Snack.

Goes with beer and works for diets

We currently have 12 types of snacks — from 12 different cheese varieties. This line covers a wide range of needs: we have fitness snacks, kids' snacks, snacks for alcoholic beverages, for example sulguni-snacks for beer, and parmesan snacks pair perfectly with wine.

We work with both Ukrainian cheeses and import from abroad. Say, we import Gouda from Germany, goya-parmesan from the Netherlands, while our classic snack line is made from Ukrainian 'Stolychnyi' cheese by 'Tulchynka'. As for 'Hratsia' cheese by 'Pyriatyn' — that's the basis of our fitness line, since it's a low-fat cheese. 

Our product is completely natural cheese. We take blocks of high-quality factory cheese, cut them up… a bit of magic — and we have delicious crunchy cheese balls. Besides the bites, there are also crunchy cheese sticks — snacks made of sulguni cheese. The sticks come in two flavors — pepper and garlic — all natural too, no E-shocks!

There's even a patent on the packaging

We have a patent confirming that during snack production and during drying we add absolutely nothing to the cheese. That is — pure milk: as it was made into cheese, so it stays, we just remove the moisture. It's important that we dry the cheeses at a low temperature — 30-32 °C, since at a higher temperature the fat begins to melt and you simply can't dry it. From 100 g of cheese you get 40 g of crunchy snacks.

Our technology is unique — it's even cooler than the one used in the USA. We add absolutely nothing to the cheese: no vegetable fats, preservatives, colorants, starches, anti-caking or anti-clumping agents, flavorings, or taste imitators. The only thing we add is natural pepper and garlic, and even that only in certain product series.

Usually the first reaction to our product is: "Hmm… You're not telling us everything, this can't just be cheese! And if it's cheese, how does it keep without refrigeration for 2 years?" They taste it. "Oh, it really does taste like Gouda, and this — like Parmesan…".

Today we have two Ukrainian patents. The first is drying cheese without additives, the second is applying natural (I emphasize!) flavorings to dried cheeses. It's truly a healthy and nutritious snack. Another feature of our snacks that we're very proud of — in the original packaging (which we also have a patent for), our dried cheese can be stored for up to 2 years. And no special conditions required.

The next "boom" could be right next to you

I evacuated my family from Kharkiv right when the invasion started. Two small children, a pregnant wife. There was no other option. Those constant shellings — booming everywhere, and you realize the next 'boom' could be right next to you. You watch the news: that's my school, the school I attended, my school! And there are holes in it… Destroyed. Our house is also practically gone, the neighbors sent photos. Our father lived under occupation for three weeks. It's very hard. But you can't fall apart. You have to take care of your family, set up the business, help the country.  

I believe we have only two options: either be at the front, or work every day, seven days a week, for Ukraine's economy. Right now we're doing the second. On February 25-26, we transferred all the funds we had in our accounts to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 'Come Back Alive' fund, dividing them equally. In total, it was about UAH 500,000. We didn't know what would happen to us, whether Kharkiv would hold on. But we wanted to do everything we could to help our country.

In the first months we couldn't even retrieve our seals

During the first two months from the start of the full-scale invasion, we couldn't work, or even take out our equipment or documents. Our office premises were immediately allocated to the Territorial Defense, and later to the Armed Forces, with no access at all. We couldn't even take our seals. The production facilities belonged to Ukrzaliznytsia, so they had restricted-access status, and it took us a very long time to gather all the necessary permits to enter and retrieve anything. We received permission for a short period and took whatever we could. We moved everything to Mukachevo.

Today many new people are working with us. Honestly, when we review resumes, we give preference to internally displaced persons and always invite them for an interview. Because we ourselves are displaced, so we know what it's like — suddenly moving to another region without work, housing, or friends.

We have a reservation from the Ministry of Economy

The procedure for obtaining military exemption (bron) for enterprises from the Ministry of Economy was described on the Diia portal. We immediately filed an application, described what kind of enterprise we are, what we do, what plans we have, and why we should be allowed to keep working rather than be sent to the front. We showed how we worked before February 24, and we received a positive answer: you can keep working. I want to say that for us this isn't an excuse or anything like that — for us this is the responsibility the state places on us. And we do everything to justify that trust.

I believe our enterprise is very important for Ukraine's economy. Of course, we're not a metallurgical enterprise or an agroholding, but we make a product that is unique not only for Ukraine but also for the European market.

We were offered to relocate to Europe, but we refused

It's important for us to work specifically in Ukraine. The thing is, when we started evacuating our equipment from Kharkiv, our European partners offered to relocate immediately to them: 'Come to us, we'll help you open up, you'll make your snacks here, everything will be great!' We didn't go for that. Together with my brother, we unanimously decided that we wouldn't go anywhere — that we wanted to work on our native land.

What is happening in my country right now is the greatest motivation to work. Everyone fights on their own front. There's a military front, there's an economic front. We hold the economic one. Yes, we are still small business — not even mid-sized. But! I believe: if there are many such businesses, if all of them — small and large businesses — keep working despite the war, we will rebuild the economy even before the war ends.

In Mukachevo we switched to solar energy

Solar panels are a project we'd dreamed about for a long time and realised right here in Zakarpattia. This region seems made for harvesting energy from renewable sources. In Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region, there isn't as much sun, so it wasn't economically feasible there. When we moved to Mukachevo, we saw that solar panels were on many buildings. And we thought: why not do the same?

Moreover, this very much aligns with our values and desire to make truly ecological snacks. And of course, it brings significant savings. But unfortunately, after relocation we had no spare funds left to realize this idea. So we found international organisations that provide grants for such projects, applied, and described in detail why we needed solar panels and how we would use them. And now, for two weeks already, snEco has been drying cheeses on solar power!

When the weather is sunny, these panels fully cover our electricity needs. When it's cloudy, we draw a little from the grid, but it's still significant savings — for our funds and for Ukraine's electricity, which is especially important now. So today we joke that the Zakarpattia sun and NASA technology are working for us.

snEco will soon be on European shelves

Our most immediate plans — to enter export markets. That's where we're placing a big bet right now. We're opening a 'Prime Snack' representative office in Warsaw. By the way, there's already a Diia office in Warsaw, and they help us a lot with everything. For exports, you need to obtain two permits: a Ukrainian one — for going to export, and a European one, that we can import our products there.

In the summer we participated in Warsaw Food Expo and presented our cheese snacks. Right now my brother and business partner Vadym is conducting negotiations in Warsaw, signing export contracts for snEco products to Poland. We are very pleased that the product, which is now made in Mukachevo, will soon be on European shelves. And every pack and box will have the inscription 'Made in Ukraine'.

We're now planning to obtain an operating permit so we can apply for inclusion on the list of exporters to Europe. There's a separate list for products of animal origin — getting onto it is very challenging. But we're sure we'll succeed and another great Ukrainian product will conquer world markets soon.

Here in Mukachevo my son was born. He is my third child, and I dream that my children will grow up Ukrainian, in love with their country, that they will be proud of it, of its unbreakability and freedom. And this depends not only on upbringing, but also on what I myself do for my country today, tomorrow, the day after.

Article: https://shotam.info/tekhnolohii-nasa-ta-zakarpatske-sontse-ukraintsi-stvoryly-unikalnyy-brend-syrnykh-smakolykiv-sneco/