Suziria Distribution is an expert in pet products wholesale (food, non-food, veterinary) and the largest national distribution company in Ukraine. The company is a part of Suziria Group, a Ukrainian family business that also incorporates Suziria Production and the MasterZoo omnichannel chain of pet shops. Founded in Ukraine three decades ago, the Suziria Distribution now operates all over the country and exclusively represents 28 brands and an up-to-date assortment of more than 6,500 SKUs to more than 4000 B2B clients in the Ukrainian market.
The full-scale military invasion on 24 February 2023 was an unprecedented event for the business and the pet industry market which doubled over five years (2017–2021). Hryvnia devaluation, inflation, and over six million citizens leaving Ukraine had a visible effect on it. But one of the biggest problems, which became evident from the very start, was the devastating damage to the infrastructure of the attacked and occupied territories, and hence the impossibility for businesses to continue their logistics in the working format of peaceful times. On the very first day of the war, Suziria Distribution lost access to the main warehouse in Kharkiv—the company HQ.
Under critical circumstances, the company management had to revise their coverage expansion plans. The plans that were to be implemented under strategies of the following years were promptly executed to protect the customers and business partners as much as possible. At the start of the year before the war, Suziria Distribution had two warehouses: in Kharkiv (14,800 sq m, 6,400 SKU) and Kyiv (2,000 sq m, 5,000 SKU), whereas in late 2022, the company has four: in Kharkiv (5,500 sq m, 6,000 SKU), Kyiv (2,000 sq m, 5,000 SKU), Lviv (3,200 sq m, 4,000 SKU), and Kalush (5,300 sq m) which functions as a distribution center. Also, one more warehouse temporarily was working in Ivano-Frankivsk while restructuring processes were going. As a result, the company’s coverage has a new, vastly expanded structure, which allows for not only a higher level of stability in supplies from the foreign partners in the west of Ukraine but also ensures fast and reliable sales of the products across all of Ukraine, even to its dangerous territories.
‘The war accelerated our development in the west, given that our positions were historically strong in the east and center of Ukraine. Even though we already started two new warehouses we continue active expansion. The company is considering expanding the Kyiv distribution hub up to 10,000 sq m in the second half of 2023 because even during the war we don’t have the right to decrease the delivery service quality neither for the clients nor for the brands, which the company distributes to Ukraine. After all, being as close as possible to customers is vital for business these days,’ said Director of Suziria Distribution, Serhii Demchenko.
