Analysis: Ukrainian pet companies are bolstering production as conflict grinds on

Suziria, a leading pet retailer and manufacturer, and Kormotech, a major pet food producer, have invested in expanding their production capacity to meet growing demand.

When the war began in 2022, both companies faced significant disruptions, straining supply chains and making it harder to retain staff. 3 years later, GlobalPETS revisits its journeys to recovery and growth.

Suziria shifts west

Before the invasion began in February 2022, Suziria operated 101 stores across Ukraine. By that March, it was down to just 42 stores. At least 8 locations were destroyed during the first month, and others were shut down as the company lost some access to its main facilities in Kharkiv, a major industrial center in Ukraine.

The company’s retail subsidiary, MasterZoo, now has over 200 locations in the country. Suziria also invested in boosting its production and warehouse facilities in the west of Ukraine, further from the Russian border. While it still operates its Kharkiv facilities, it has built warehouses in Kyiv and Lviv, 544 km west of the capital. Each warehouse manages 6,500 SKUs.

Suziria also opened a production facility in Kalush in southwestern Ukraine in 2022 and announced last year that it would expand the facility by the end of the year. The company began producing wet food for dogs and cats thanks to the expansion.

Since the war began, the firm’s market share in Ukraine has increased. In 2022, it was 10.7%, which rose to 14.1% in 2024.

“After such a growth, [we] need a certain time for stabilization,” Co-owner Polina Kosharna says. She adds that the goal is “stabilization, digitalization, optimization for the first half of 2025.”

However, the company wants to expand its market share abroad, Kosharna tells GlobalPETS. It’s targeting Poland, Czechia, Romania and the Balkans, sticking to neighboring countries rather than larger markets elsewhere. “The idea is that these countries are still developing, connecting with West European countries, so they have higher average annual growth than Western European countries,” she says. “And basically, we are more understandable for them as [an] East European supplier.”

Kormotech expands production in Lithuania

Kormotech, a leading pet food manufacturer based in Ukraine, consolidated much of the country’s market during the earliest months of the war. Based in the western city of Lviv, it was somewhat insulated from the physical impacts of the war.

To avoid disruption, the company opened a facility in Poland in 2022 and is now expanding its production plant in Lithuania, which opened in 2020.

The company announced it would invest €60 million ($62M) in its Lithuanian expansion. The facility will triple Kormotech’s Lithuanian production capacity from 22,000 to 60,000 tons per year, and after the expansion is completed, it will account for 61% of its total wet food production.

Kormotech has a significant international presence in Europe and has established itself in markets as far away as South Korea. By 2028, it aims to become a top-30 pet food maker and generate €500 million ($524M) in revenue.