How a family business from Kharkiv became a leader in Ukraine’s pet market. An Interview with Suziria Group co-owner Polina Kosharna

• Suziria Group is a family business that started with a single pet store in Kharkiv. In 1993, it was opened by a married couple of scientists, the Potapovy: Tetiana, a chemist-biologist, and Serhii, a nuclear physicist.

• In 1997, they introduced their first private-label brand, Priroda, a line of bird and rodent feed produced at their own grain-mix facility.
• In 2007, the Potapovy launched the MasterZoo pet store chain, managed by their daughter Polina Kosharna. In 2010, at 29, she became head of the corporation.
• Today, Suziria Group is a large ecosystem comprising several business areas: distribution of European pet products, retail through the MasterZoo network, manufacturing of nine private-label brands, and the Suziria Charity foundation, established in 2022.
• In Ukraine, the family pet corporation’s products are represented on the MasterZoo website and in its stores, as well as in major retail chains such as Aurora and Epicenter. They are also available in 13 countries abroad.

1

Suziria Group was based in Kharkiv before Russia’s full-scale invasion. How did you and your team face the war?

The full-scale war was a shock and, at the same time, a point of radical change. Around 90% of our assets were in Kharkiv: our main production facility, office, team, and key warehouses accounting for approximately 80% of shipments. In Kyiv, we had only a small branch.

In the first weeks of the invasion, we were evacuating employees, moving out equipment and raw material stocks, and delivering pet food orders. At the time, that was what families with pets needed most.

By the second week, we found volunteers who collected feed from our warehouse and brought it to shelters, metro stations, and other places where people were hiding from the shelling, along with their pets and stray animals.

Active fighting was taking place near our main warehouse in the Rogan district, and we lost access to it. We were lucky to preserve our Kharkiv office and a smaller warehouse. But stock was running out fast, and we were urgently searching for ways to bring pet food into Ukraine. It was hard because logistics had effectively stopped.

How did your MasterZoo stores operate in the first months of the war, and what were people buying?

MasterZoo’s operations were patchy and depended on the security situation in each region. Most of our stores were in eastern and northern Ukraine, the areas that were hit hardest. In March 2022, only about 40 of our 101 stores were open.

In total, 11 MasterZoo stores were damaged by hostilities. Some of them were rebuilt, but others were completely lost: one in Bucha and two each in Mariupol, Kherson, and Kharkiv.

Orders were pouring in. Pet food was the top purchase: people were evacuating with their animals or had simply run out of supplies at home. There was also intense demand for evacuation accessories: carriers, disposable pads, and litter. These virtually disappeared from shelves within days, and new stock was not coming into Ukraine.

Frozen feed for aquarium fish and turtles was also scarce. It had been sourced near bodies of water in the south and east, territories now under Russian occupation. After partial de-occupation, production there gradually resumed.

Did your foreign partners offer concessions or better terms?

Yes. In the first months of the invasion, many European suppliers prioritized our orders. Partners in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Belgium helped relocate around a hundred of our employees and their families abroad. The Czech company VAFO was especially helpful. Its owner Pavel Bouska pushed for the urgent evacuation of our staff and took in around 60 people in Prague for two months. It was an extraordinary gesture of solidarity that we will never forget.

Is your Kharkiv production still running?

Yes, we are still running, though Kharkiv has been under constant shelling since the first days of the war. In spring 2022, we considered shutting down Kharkiv operations entirely, but decided against it. We feel a responsibility to the people who stayed and kept working there. For us, it is a symbol of resilience.

Today, Kharkiv produces feed for rodents, plastic bowls and toys, soft cushions, pet beds, cat houses, scratching posts, and clothing. Wet food and treats for cats and dogs are made at a new facility in Kalush, which we built from scratch during the war. Dry food is manufactured on our partners' lines abroad.

Tell us more about the Kalush facility.

It opened in the early months of the full-scale invasion. We relocated our Kharkiv grain-feed production for birds and rodents there. In November 2023, we added meat treat production. Wet food for cats and dogs was being made temporarily by foreign partners under contract manufacturing agreements.

In January 2026, we launched a third production line in Kalush, focused on wet food for cats and dogs. The Ukrainian wet pet food market is roughly 60,000 tons per year. We expect the Kalush plant to produce around 5,000 tons in 2026, with a target of 10,000 tons in 2027. About a third of that volume we expect to export, with the rest staying in Ukraine.

Alongside the new line, we unveiled a pouch brand called Catch. This is a high-potential segment, as they currently account for half the wet food market. Beyond our own trademarks, we also plan to manufacture wet food for Ukrainian and foreign retail chains under their private labels. We already have several active inquiries and are in negotiations.

2

In 2022, you founded the Suziria Charity foundation. How does it work, and do you allocate a fixed budget?

Care for animals and responsible pet ownership have been part of our philosophy from the start. For years, we helped where there was a need, but mostly on a case-by-case basis, delivering feed to shelters, for example.

When the full-scale invasion began, we helped people and animals the same way. We donated to over a hundred charitable foundations and fulfilled requests from around five hundred volunteers and numerous military units. Feed and essential goods we distributed free of charge. But we quickly realized that addressing immediate needs did not address systemic challenges. That is why we established Suziria Charity.

The foundation now operates on an approved annual budget: a fixed percentage of profit allocated to charitable activities each month. Initially, that was around UAH 300,000 per month. As the business has grown, so has the charitable budget. We also continue to pay full salaries to our employees serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, currently 126 people. We allocate approximately UAH 2 million per month for their salaries and additional needs.

We still provide targeted support where it is critically needed, but the core focus of Suziria Charity is long-term projects with measurable results.

What areas does the foundation work in?

The first is institutional support for shelters. We helped rebuild the veterinary complex of the Best Friends shelter in the Kyiv region, which was damaged during the war. We also invested in building the House of Tails, Ukraine’s largest shelter for animals with disabilities.

The second is sterilization of stray animals, with a focus on war-affected regions. In the Kharkiv region alone, we sterilized more than 1,500 animals in 2024 and 2025.

We also run educational and cultural initiatives. In 2025, together with UAnimals, we rolled out “Humane Education and Volunteering,” a school elective program where children learn to care for animals and understand why it matters.

That same year, together with the Wild Theatre, we created the performance “A Very Sad Person,” about a lonely boy rescued from despair by a stray cat.

3

How has Suziria Group changed during the full-scale war, and what helped you adapt?

We transformed from a local Kharkiv player into a national company with a central office in Kyiv and branches in Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa. We restructured our logistics, signed new contracts with key partners, and found new premises for warehouses, production facilities, offices, and pet stores, with a focus on western Ukraine. We also lease warehouses and a distribution center in the Kyiv region.

How has the war changed Ukrainians' demand for pet products?

One noticeable trend is that people have started buying larger packs of dry food and multipacks of pouches. This is linked to several factors: people leave home less often due to air raid alerts, want to keep a food supply on hand, and larger packs are generally more cost-effective per kilogram.

Demand for treats has grown significantly. Previously this was largely a cat thing, but treats for dogs are now just as popular. We call this emotional consumption. Treats are a way to thank a pet for its unconditional love and support in difficult times.

Sales of care, health, and well-being products are also growing. Pet clothing has become a practical necessity: when apartments are cold, animals are dressed in sweaters, costumes, and overalls. Power outages have driven demand for illuminated collars and clothing with reflective elements. Calming products are popular too. These are herbal-based remedies that do not harm animals' health and help them cope with sirens, explosions, and general stress.

More and more Ukrainians treat pets as full family members and are unwilling to economize on their well-being. Despite the difficult economic climate, sales of premium food have been rising since 2024. They now account for 73% of the market, with the economy segment making up the rest. Pet parents have become more responsible and are willing to invest in their animals' health, including veterinary diets.

Over four years of full-scale war, the MasterZoo network doubled from 101 to 203 locations across Ukraine. What drove such rapid expansion?

Our stores carry imported products alongside Ukrainian goods and our own brands. This gives us a wide assortment and control over supply chains, which is critically important in crisis conditions.

We work systematically on store formats, locations, and physical brand presence. Being close to customers is a priority, which is why in 2022 we moved west alongside our customers and began opening stores there.

We also invest in building brand trust: we train sales staff, notify customers in advance about store relocations and offer alternative locations, and develop omnichannel capabilities. So customers can engage with us however they prefer: in physical stores, on the website, through social media, or via partner delivery services.

All of this helps us become a lovemark not just in individual cities, but nationwide, while staying close to people and their pets.

In 2025, you paused the growth of the MasterZoo chain to stabilize and streamline operations. What did you optimize, and what results did it produce?

As we scaled quickly, we noticed that demand varies significantly across different parts of cities. Stores closer to city centers sell smaller packs and cat products, while stores on the outskirts see stronger demand for large bags of food and dog products. In 2025, we adjusted assortments to reflect local customer preferences in each location.

We automated core processes: tracking in-store inventory, monitoring stock performance, and evaluating warehouse efficiency. In physical stores, sales consultants were spending too much time on tasks outside their role. They printed invoices or changed price tags. We are now cutting that administrative load so staff can spend more time on the floor with customers.

Also, 15 stores were relocated because they were not generating the planned profit. The issue was never format or team performance, simply location. We still plan to grow the chain, but right now system quality comes first. In 2026, a new MasterZoo website goes live, developed by our own team, people who understand the specifics of pet product retail. We have high expectations for it.

What is Suziria Group’s share of the Ukrainian pet market? What results do you plan to reach in 2026?

In 2025, our consolidated market share reached nearly 15%, and revenue for the first nine months of the year came close to UAH 3.4 billion. Our ambition is to reach 20% of the market by 2027.

What gives you a competitive edge in the Ukrainian market?

Suziria Group is a complete ecosystem. We are a distributor, a retailer, and a brand portfolio owner simultaneously. That gives us a comprehensive view of the market. Our systemic approach allows us to remain resilient and grow even under difficult conditions.

MasterZoo is Ukraine’s largest specialized chain of pet stores and grooming salons. We curate our assortment carefully, have deep category expertise, and bring in specialists when needed. Customers feel that and keep coming back.

Our distribution scale is another major advantage. Suziria Group works with over 6,000 B2B clients across the country. For any brand entering the Ukrainian market, the fastest and most effective route to consumers runs through our infrastructure, logistics, and expertise.

4

How did your export business begin, and which were your first markets?

Before the full-scale invasion, we had steady clients in Moldova, Georgia, Poland, Germany, and Spain, primarily for grain-based feed and pet accessories. We entered foreign markets fully with cat and dog food in 2022, starting with Poland, a geographically close yet highly competitive European market.

We search for B2B partners at international and local industry trade shows and through professional networks. Our reputation as Ukraine’s largest pet products distributor, the track record of our own brands, and our retail expertise all work in our favor.

That said, listing with major retail chains is always a complex, multi-stage process. To be successful, you need a relevant product, clear positioning, competitive pricing, a well-structured commercial offer, and marketing support. And all of this must correspond to the context of the specific market.

In how many markets are Suziria Group’s pet food and clothing sold?

Products from five of our brands are represented in 13 countries: Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Latvia, Japan, Bulgaria, and the United Arab Emirates.

Each market has its own sales volumes and growth dynamics. In some countries we work through local distributors; in others we work directly with retail chains. We start with test launches and scale the portfolio and volumes from there.

Our brands are on the shelves of major chains including Auchan, Carrefour, and Amazon, as well as specialized retailers such as PetCentar and AquaelZoo.

Does your Ukrainian origin help?

For most consumers, the country of manufacture is not a deciding factor. Pet owners primarily care about quality, benefits, and price. Some buyers consciously support Ukrainian products. At the same time, there are those who have concerns about quality given the instability in the country. This is normal for the global market.

In our communications, we lead with quality standards, transparent production, reliable supply, and clear value for the customer, not just Ukrainian origin. That approach is what drives our brands' growth abroad.

What share of your sales did export represent in 2025? And what is your target for 2026?

Exports currently account for less than 2% of Suziria Group’s total sales. Our ambition is to eventually reach at least 1% of the total pet food market in each of our priority countries.

Which markets are the most profitable, and where is it hardest to operate?

Europe is our target region. Poland and Moldova generate the highest revenue. The toughest part is breaking into each country’s distribution channels. A new brand is still unknown to consumers but must compete immediately against established global players. The further west you go, the harder it is to earn a place in the consumer’s basket. At the same time, those markets offer the most stable long-term returns. This is not a game for quick wins. It is about building brand recognition, reputation, and trust systematically.

What is special about the European market?

Compared to Ukraine, European consumers place greater emphasis on natural and hypoallergenic ingredients and the sourcing of raw materials. They also tend to buy larger packs and promotional bundles.

What differences do you see in the Asian market, Japan specifically?

Japan is still a test project for us, with a full commercial rollout planned for 2026. We did not actively seek entry into that market; we responded to an inquiry from Japanese importer Casarich. Distribution is handled by its subsidiary Compet, a pet care retail chain that also manages all regulatory and documentation requirements on our behalf.

How competitive is the international pet products market, and what helps your brands stand out?

In Europe, there are far more brands than in Ukraine, innovation moves faster, and price competition is considerably fiercer. Companies regularly cut prices or run promotions, giving consumers a wide range of cheaper alternatives. Shoppers are well-informed and discerning, which makes capturing their attention harder.

To compete effectively, having a quality product is necessary but not sufficient. You also need to be visible and easy for consumers to understand. That means consistent promotional activity, collaborations, and active participation in trade shows.

How large is your export team?

It is a small, versatile team covering everything from commercial negotiations and product launches to marketing coordination.

For specific projects like local advertising campaigns, we bring in local agencies or contractors who know the market, consumer behavior, and sales channels. Some of our partners also run online initiatives on their own platforms, and we support them in that.

Which new markets are you targeting?

We will deepen our presence in our core markets: Poland, Moldova, and Romania. Demand there is stable, growth potential is clear, and distribution is well established. In 2026, we will also build on our cooperation in Belgium, growing volumes of grain feed we manufacture for the local brand Laroy.

Based on your experience, what advice would you give Ukrainian entrepreneurs looking to sell abroad?

First, stay focused. Choose specific markets, understand them deeply, study the consumer, their motivations and expectations, and only then bring your brand and product to the table.

Second, make sure your product is ready for the new market. That means both quality and full adaptation: packaging, labeling, pricing, documentation. Everything must meet local regulatory requirements.

Third, find the right local partner to serve as your guide on the ground. This is exactly what helps you gain traction, scale, and avoid many costly early mistakes.

In short: export is a marathon, not a sprint. Those who act consistently and strategically succeed.