Yellow Blue has curated a selection of 15 Ukrainian brands that produce seasoned salts, spices, and sauces using farm-grown vegetables, berries, and fruits. These makers from all across the country work with local ingredients to create original flavors. The collection features both classic recipes and unique pairings: mushroom and tomato salts, preserved lemon paste, bourbon bacon jam, and fiery sauces made from smoked and fermented peppers.
Salt and spices
Drohobych Saltworks
About the business: Drohobych Saltworks is the oldest operating enterprise in Ukraine. The first written record of the facility dates back to 1390. Currently, the saline is led by lawyer Oleh Petrenko, who has increased production capacity and, together with his team, developed a new product line: premium salt flakes and seasoned salts. He also opened The Salty Shop, which sells souvenirs and branded merchandise. Petrenko’s next goal is to modernize the production process and transform the site into a destination for recreation and wellness.
Product range: Classic salt (granulated or flakes) and infused varieties featuring cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, pear, meat seasonings, or coffee aroma. The saltworks also sells other salt-infused products, including ground coffee, craft soap, bath bombs, bath powder, and bath salts.
Besarabian spices
About the business: This spice brand was founded by chef and Southern Ukrainian local cuisine researcher Andrii Velychko. He grew up in Izmail, a city in Bessarabia near the Romanian border. His mother and grandmother instilled in him a deep love for the region’s traditional dishes. To share the flavors and aromas of his homeland, he created a spice brand featuring herbs grown in Bessarabia.
Product range: Gyuzum (fragrant mint), mirudiya (a blend of aromatic herbs perfect for vegetables, fish, and meat), chubrytsia (a fragrant seasoning for meat and vegetable dishes), sweet paprika made from local pepper varieties, salt made from the salted and dried roe of local fish, and a blend of sea salt and spices designed to “make any dish Bessarabian.”
De-occupation Shop
About the business: A charitable project by Kharkiv volunteers from the Volonterska foundation. In 2022, they worked in de-occupied communities of the Kharkiv region—repairing homes damaged during the fighting and delivering humanitarian aid to people returning to their houses. The volunteers quickly realized that for locals to restore their normal lives, they needed a stable income, so they began helping them grow and sell garden produce.
Farmers receive nearly 100% of the profits. The volunteers only deduct costs for renting sales points in Kharkiv and paying their staff’s wages. Expenses for seeds and equipment are covered by donors who support the Volonterska foundation.
Product range: The selection at the De-occupation Shop is constantly changing and depends on the season. During the cold season, the market sells seasoned salt, craft spices, honey, cheese, jams, and preserves. In the spring and summer, they also offer fresh vegetables and fruits.
Zhygun Herbs
About the business: Vadym Zhygun is an entrepreneur continuing a long-standing family tradition. His mother, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers brewed healthful herbal infusions using plants gathered in the Poltava and Chernihiv regions. Zhygun has been studying herbalism for 12 years, learning from a master herbalist and researching specialized literature.
Through Zhygun Herbs, he sells herbal teas designed for specific functional effects, such as calming properties or digestive aid. His lineup also includes herb and salt blends. Zhygun sources his raw materials from Ukrainian farmers and manufactures the products in a modern facility.
Product range: Herb salts tailored for vegetables, potatoes, chicken, meat, or fish. There is also a wide selection of dried herbs and teas.
Sauces, salt and spices
Salad Basket
About the business: A brand of spices and sauces made from herbs, vegetables, and fruits grown in the Odesa region. Their range includes seasonings for various dishes and drinks, such as coffee, avocado-based breakfasts, eggs, borsch, or soup. The brand also produces classic seasonings, such as tomato with garlic and smoked onion.
Salad Basket offers an extensive selection of salts, including flavored varieties like cheese, mushroom, smoked citrus, spicy, and garlic, as well as blends with aromatic herbs and vegetables. The brand also crafts jams from pine cones and rose petals, and sauces made from seasonal fruits and vegetables. Alongside classic options, they offer unique sauces like orange mustard, plum curry, and hot honey.
Product range: A wide selection of flavored salts, classic and dish-specific seasonings, sauces, jams, and infused olive oils (e.g., with basil and tomatoes). Their avocado seasoning is a consistent bestseller.
Boim
About the business: A family-run sauce and jam producer founded in 2016 by spouses Maryna and Oleksandr Chernoholovi. They gathered their recipes while traveling through Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Boim prepares Korean kimchi, African harissa, Italian tomato pasta sauce, and Argentine chimichurri. One of the brand’s signatures is unusual combinations, such as bourbon bacon jam, which has remained a bestseller for the past seven years.
Product range: Traditional international sauces, jams, fermented vegetables (kimchi and pickles), and flavored kombucha, such as ginger or sea buckthorn.
Famberry
About the business: An organic brand of jams and sauces made from cornelian cherries—berries known for their tart, sweet-and-sour flavor. This is a full-cycle production: the berries are grown in greenhouses, stored in specialized freezers, and processed into jams or sauces using modern equipment. Famberry products are organic and carry the Organic Standard certification.
This is a family business owned by the Olshanski family. In 2013, they planted a cornelian cherry orchard in a village in the Zaporizhzhia region. By 2021, it was recognized by the Book of Records of Ukraine as the largest in the country, and the family had planned to apply for the Guinness World Records. At the start of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces occupied the village, stealing and destroying expensive machinery and equipment.
The Olshanski evacuated to the city of Zaporizhzhia, where they revived the brand. They initially relied on existing warehouse stocks, but by 2023, they had built a new facility with modern equipment and planted cornelian cherry trees in greenhouses.
In March 2026, Russia struck the Famberry facility with two Shahed drones, resulting in a fire that destroyed the premises and part of the equipment. Despite this, Famberry continues to operate, selling the remaining stock from its warehouses. For the Olshanski, rebuilding the business is also a way to honor the memory of their son, Danya, who joined the military as a volunteer and was killed in action in August 2022.
Product range: Cornelian cherry salsa and cornelian cherries mashed with honey. Cornelian cherry jams with added ingredients such as blackcurrant, mango, raspberry, apple, peach, or strawberry. Multi-component juices blending cornelian cherry with pumpkin, apple, or orange.
BraveBee
About the business: A brand of sauces and fermented elderberries created by gastronomy researcher and cookbook author Daria Krikunova. BraveBee crafts products using original recipes designed for gourmets, such as spicy preserved lemons, fermented plums, and vinegars infused with flowers, pears, or figs.
Raw materials are sourced from ecologically clean regions of Ukraine. The products are free from allergens, gluten, and preservatives. BraveBee extends shelf life through natural methods like fermentation and pickling.
Product range: Fermented plums and elderberry (the latter having a flavor profile similar to capers). Preserved lemons, available with or without chili—perfect for salads, meat, and fish, or simply as a spread on toast. There is also a wide selection of finishing vinegars used to enhance flavors and add a touch of freshness to completed dishes.
Mr.Caramba
About the product: A brand of sauces made from vegetables, fruits, and berries, founded in 2014 by spouses Marharyta and Roman Martynovy. This is a true family-run operation: Roman’s parents grow a portion of the raw ingredients (the rest is sourced from local farmers), Rita’s parents work in the production facility, and her sister, Serafyma, handles the label designs. Roman manages operations and marketing, while Marharyta develops the recipes—often experimenting with bold pairings, such as mango with habanero peppers.
Product range: Tomato-based (Satsebeli), spicy (Sweet Chili), berry (Lingonberry with Red Wine), and tropical (Sweet Pineapple and Chili) sauces. The brand’s bestseller is the Smoky BBQ tomato sauce made with smoked peppers.
LAS
About the product: A craft workshop specializing in sauces and jams, founded by spouses Svitlana and Yaroslav Stetsenko. They prepare their products using farm-fresh ingredients, completely free from preservatives and artificial dyes. Their approach combines classic recipes with intriguing pairings, such as their apple and chili sauce.
Product range: Sauces made from vegetables, fruits, and berries, including Satsebeli, Italian Pepper, Cherry, and Blackcurrant. They also offer jams made from pear, peach, orange, grapefruit, and blackcurrant. Additionally, LAS produces adjika, lecho, and eggplant paste.
Klopotenko Store
About the business: Yevhen Klopotenko is a famous Ukrainian chef and restaurateur. He actively promotes Ukrainian cuisine globally—particularly borsch, the subject of his documentary, “Borsch. The Secret Ingredient.” In July 2022, borsch was inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and Klopotenko was one of the primary drivers of this process.
The chef has developed a line of unique seasonings, sauces, and infused salts. He uses these products in his own recipes and sells them through his restaurants and two dedicated websites.
Product range: Smoked salt, as well as varieties infused with dill seeds or paprika and linden. Spices made from herbs grown in Ukraine: merudia, chamomile with dill and coriander seeds, and a blend of thyme, juniper, and elderberry. The sauce collection features both classics (horseradish with beetroot or cherry with chili) and unconventional pairings (strawberry with rum or plum with paprika).
Hot sauces
Vognyar
About the business: A brand of craft hot sauces, founded in 2015 by Valentyn Kalashnyk. During the full-scale invasion, he is serving in the Ukrainian military.
Vognyar has its own farm in the Cherkasy region, where it grows over 50 varieties of hot pepper. It is sold fresh, dried, smoked, and fermented, or treats are made from it and added to signature sauces with various flavors—for example, with cranberry or lemongrass.
In October 2025, a Russian missile destroyed one of the Vognyar warehouses in Kyiv. Everything burned in the premises, including the roof and walls. Kalashnyk estimates damages at least at $200,000. The brand has recovered and is operating at full capacity.
Product range: A wide selection of pepper sauces with varying heat levels, hot candies and jellies, and spicy sauces featuring passion fruit, mango, pineapple, or cranberry. The brand rates the heat intensity of its sauces using the international Scoville scale.
Hell Daddy
About the business: A hot sauce brand founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and spicy food enthusiast Oleksandr Horchakov. None of the sauces contain artificial preservatives, dyes, flavor enhancers, or artificial flavorings.
The hot peppers are sourced from Ukrainian farmers, ground, combined with salt and lactic acid bacteria cultures, and fermented for at least 40 days in large barrels before being bottled. Horchakov creates humorous names for the sauces, such as “Tongue Ripper” or “Burning Butt”.
Product range: Fiery and mild sweet-and-sour sauces made from various pepper varieties. Hell Daddy rates the heat of each sauce on its own scale from 1 to 10.
Vytrebenky
About the business: The brand name translates from Ukrainian as “whims” or “fancy treats.” This craft sauce brand was founded in 2022 by spouses Tetiana and Dmytro Holiky. Dmytro is a veteran of the war in eastern Ukraine. After being demobilized in 2015, he struggled to find employment, so he and his wife searched for new ways to make a living. They tried rabbit farming and growing vegetables for sale, but these ventures didn’t provide a steady income.
In 2022, despite the outbreak of the full-scale war, the Holiks launched their craft sauce business. The couple grows their own raw materials in greenhouses, develops the recipes, and personally prepares and inspects every batch.
Product range: A wide selection of hot and sweet sauces consisting of approximately 75% pepper. They are naturally thick, as the entrepreneurs do not add starch, thickeners, or artificial preservatives. In addition to sauces, the Holiks make spreads from sun-dried peppers. The products have a shelf life of up to one year when sealed, and several weeks once opened.
PeChe
About the business: The brand name translates from Ukrainian as “it burns.” This hot sauce brand operates its own farm in Kyiv where they grow their peppers. The heat level of their most pungent sauces reaches up to 1,500,000 Scoville units, which is considered an extreme level of spiciness.
In March 2025, the founder of PeChe, Mykyta Yefanov, was mobilized into the Ukrainian military. The brand temporarily suspended its operations; however, Yefanov is currently handing over management to another person and promises that PeChe will resume work in the near future.
Product range: Smoked pepper, hot spices, chili-infused oil, and a wide selection of sauces made from various pepper varieties with additional ingredients, such as mango and passion fruit.
