Page 24 - PET worldwide issue 01/2023

Review of the year “To save

living souls”

How the war has changed the Ukrainian pet product market —
an interview with Polina Kosharna.

Many of our readers aren’t famil- and personalisation were also Belarus and Moldova, which were
iar with the Ukrainian pet market. very important factors that influ- very familiar with Ukrainian prod-
Therefore let’s first take a look enced the market. People who ucts, historically accounted for the
back to the time before the Rus- own pets are now called pet par- majority of Ukrainian exports. But
sian invasion of Ukraine: how had ents. Pets are considered family eventually, we and other exporters
the market for pet food and acces- members and treated accordingly came to understand the needs
sories developed before the war? these days. Personalisation means of European consumers, and
wanting something special for your Ukrainian companies appeared
Like many other entrepreneurs, pet, such as special food or acces- on the map of Europe. Some of
we were happy about the growing sories that no one else has. them even entered the US and
and developing market. It had to do Asian markets. Suziria Group ex-
with not only increased purchasing Can you give a monetary esti- ported its products to more than
power but also the cultivation of mate of the market? 10 countries before the full-scale
the pet care culture, which is very invasion. We are continuing down
important to us. Even in 2021, less In 2021, the Ukrainian market for this road, but now in the context
What is the than a quarter of the population pet food and accessories passed of internationalisation rather than
Suziria Group? fed their pets with ready-made the 20 bn hryvnia (UAH) mark (500 export.
pet food, and that number grew. mio euros)*. By our estimate, this The first step for many manu-
The Suziria Group is a Ukra- It’s also worth mentioning that market is made up of 75 per cent facturers, including us, is working
inian family business. It in- the lockdowns had a huge impact pet food, including treats, and 25 with private label products. When
corporates Suziria Produc- on the number of pets because, per cent non-food products such as the existing European brands en-
tion, Suziria Distribution, and while staying at home, we needed litter, veterinary medicines and pet trust Ukrainian companies with
the Master Zoo omnichannel someone to care for, cuddle, take accessories. About one-third is cov- manufacturing their products,
chain of pet shops. Founded for a walk, and find solace in. ered by Ukrainian manufacturers. and vice versa, powerful Ukrain-
in Ukraine 29 years ago, the There are several big companies ian brands are placed on the plat-
group now operates all over Having pets was the only way in Ukraine, including us. The rest is forms of European producers.
the country and abroad, ex- to go outside in some countries imported, predominantly through This was how we started part-
porting products under its with very strict lockdown rules, major international players. nerships with well-known Polish
brands Priroda, ProVET, PET wasn’t it? and Spanish companies some
Fashion, Special One, Savory Did Ukraine export pet prod- time ago. Today we manufacture
and Essence. Yes, the number of pets increased ucts to other countries before certified rodent and bird products
across the globe. Humanisation the war? for several popular brands.
*1 euro = 39 UAH

24 PET worldwide 1|2023

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