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We continue telling the stories of steadfast Ukrainian businesses that are working heroically during the war and fighting for Ukraine’s economic stability.
To support them, from the very first weeks of the full-scale invasion 300 micro and small enterprises have received financial support under the international assistance programme EU4Business: SME Competitiveness and Internationalisation, funded by the EU and the Government of Germany and supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Entrepreneurship and Export Development Office, the national project Diia.Business and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The total amount of grant assistance is 150,000 UAH. The implementing partner of the initiative is the International Charitable Organisation “East Europe Foundation”.
Even before the full-scale invasion, snEco crispy cheese bites had won over thousands of Ukrainians. Their special feature was a unique property that allowed the cheese snacks to be stored even without a fridge. The business had big plans for the future, but the war changed them. The company had to be moved to another part of the country, and the managers gave all the money they had earned to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Production was restored thanks to a micro-grant from the EU4Business programme.
Brothers Pylyp and Vadym Gryshyn founded the company Prime Snack in Kharkiv. The idea of creating a healthy, tasty and nutritious cheese snack came up back in 2015. The men wanted to find a technology that would allow cheese to be stored for a long time without special conditions. And they succeeded.
The future eco-snacks were based on a technology invented by NASA in the 1970s to provide astronauts with healthy food: to make the food weigh as little as possible, it was dehydrated, that is, all the moisture was removed using a microwave-vacuum method. The search and experiments took Pylyp and Vadym a year and a half. It was thanks to this technology that they managed to dry cheese while preserving its nutrients. And so, in 2016, a new product called snEco appeared in Ukraine.
The company patented its method of making a healthy snack. Today only Prime Snack can dry cheese using this technology in Ukraine. The entrepreneurs were also the first in the country to create snacks without any added ingredients. Thanks to this, in 2018 the company received a European eco-production certificate and now has the right to call its cheese bites the first eco-snack in Ukraine.
The snEco range comprises 12 different types of cheese. Until 24 February 2022, the company produced about three tonnes of products a month. The brothers had big plans to expand production and dreamed of exporting to Europe, but one day changed everything.
Pylyp and Vadym were in Kharkiv when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. In the very first days they decided to take their families out of the city, as the fighting was already very close. There was no access to the production site or the office. Because of the hostilities, both the finished products stored at the plant and the raw materials, several tonnes of high-quality cheese, were lost. The plant itself was also damaged, but in April 2022 the brothers still managed to take out the surviving machinery, documents and equipment. The families’ homes were almost completely destroyed.
The businessmen spent a long time choosing a region to relocate the company to. In the end they settled on the city of Mukachevo in the Zakarpattia region. Finding suitable premises took about two months. Eight lorries transported the company’s equipment and materials from Kharkiv.
The next stage was renovation: engineering works to meet the needs of food production went on all summer.
At the very start of the war, on 27 February 2022, we transferred the UAH 500,000 we had in the company’s accounts to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Come Back Alive foundation. In the summer we were left with almost no working capital. We took out loans and applied for grants. Thanks to this, we were able to launch and start production again.
Before the full-scale war the company had 35 employees, who scattered across different regions after 24 February 2022. When the company found a new home, Vadym and Pylyp invited the staff to come back to work. Three of them agreed to move to Mukachevo. The company now employs 14 workers, most of them internally displaced people who, like the founders, fled the war to a safer place.
Meanwhile, the brothers were looking for financial support to rebuild the business. It was then that Pylyp saw information on the Diia.Business portal about a micro-grant from the EU4Business programme.
We understood straight away that we had to apply, because we needed it. And the micro-grant really did help us get started. It was the first grant we had ever received. When the news of our win came, it was very emotional, we were incredibly happy. Everyone who was already working with us at the time was proud that we had won. And we are still proud of it.
The company was relaunched in August 2022. The grant money was used to buy raw materials: 130 kg of fresh cheese, which was later turned into 67 kg of dried cheese. The micro-grant also covered the rent for the premises, taxes and staff salaries.
Raw materials, rent and salaries are the main fixed costs we had to cover in the first months. This helped us stay afloat. The micro-grant freed up other money, which was spent on new equipment. And thanks to a constant supply of raw materials, we were able to keep the workshop running without interruption.
The company was then able to make a batch of products and ship it to the Silpo supermarket chain. According to the entrepreneurs, the grant money helped them avoid a big cash gap and overcome the losses caused by the relocation.
This kind of help motivates you to carry on with your business no matter what and to work in your home country for the prosperity of the whole nation. During the micro-grant programme we created two additional jobs, increased our contributions to the local budget and signed several product supply contracts.
The company now works with supermarket chains such as Silpo, Novus and Obzhora, Antoshka shops and OKKO and WOG petrol stations. Orders have risen by 30% compared with pre-war levels, but for the time being the company cannot fulfil them in full because of regular power cuts.
Our biggest challenge right now is a lack of capacity. Our equipment is energy-intensive, and an ordinary generator isn’t enough for us. The company has large requests from distributors that we are unable to meet, because we can’t dry enough cheese in the hours when there is electricity.
In December 2022 the company managed to produce 1.75 tonnes of products, more than half of its pre-war volume. According to the managers, if production were running at full capacity, they would already have exceeded their 2021 figures.
In the autumn we won another grant to install solar panels. This 20 kW system is already on the roof of the plant. But there’s no sun right now, so we’re really looking forward to spring. It will also allow us to label our products as made in an environmentally friendly way using renewable energy sources.
The company is now actively working on exporting its products to Europe. The Gryshyn brothers started this process back in Kharkiv, but now that they are only 100 km from the EU border, setting up exports will be even easier. At the beginning of the war the company even had several offers to relocate to Europe, but the founders decided to keep working in Ukraine.
In the autumn Pylyp and Vadym opened a representative office in Poland and signed contracts to export products to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland. So the entrepreneurs are now working on the necessary certification of production in order to start deliveries.
In Zakarpattia there is only one company that is allowed to export food products to the EU. We could become the second in the region. In fact, only 12 companies in the whole country are allowed to export dairy products. It’s a fairly closed club, and it’s not easy to get in.
Before the full-scale war there were also plans to expand the range. With its unique technology the company can dry anything. It has already experimented with meat, fruit and vegetables. Back in Kharkiv they were considering building a second workshop to dry meat. But launching new products takes time and considerable funds, so the idea has been put on hold for now.
In 2022 the company produced over 30 million cheese bites. For 2023 it plans to reach 50 million. So we wish that this and all the company’s other dreams come true.
We have big plans and we know exactly where we want to go next. Our main goal for the future is to grow and create new kinds of products. To become a large company that will also work for our country. We want to make our product in Ukraine and sell it all over the world.
Original article – https://business.diia.gov.ua/cases/iniciativi/stijki-ta-nezlamni-sirni-naturalni-ukrainski-smakoliki-sneco
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