Four years ago we woke up in a different reality. For Enzym Group, this time was not only a shock, but also a moment of maximum responsibility. We understood: in an emergency, bread is the basis. And we were among those on whom it depended.
How Enzym Group prepared
In November-December 2021, the company created a crisis committee and developed an action plan for three possible scenarios. “Our main task was to protect people and ensure the continuity of production,” recalls Enzym Group CEO Andriy Tsegelyk.
We prepared shelters, conducted evacuation drills. We purchased water, long-term storage products, and personal protective equipment. We increased stocks of raw materials and packaging, understanding the risks of supply disruptions.
It was impossible to fully predict the development of events. But materially, the company was ready for the first months of the great war.
“We’re playing it safe”: when Enzym Group remained the only source of yeast in Ukraine
In the first days of a full-scale war, other yeast producers were forced to stop their work. “We got in touch with them. We agreed that we would play it safe and supply their customers with yeast, and then we would put everything back in place,” recalls Andriy Tsegelyk.
Part of the export was quickly reoriented to Ukraine. At the same time, we agreed with European manufacturers to create a strategic stock of dry yeast — we purchased 40–60 tons.
March 2022 became a record for us in terms of production volumes. Under other circumstances, this would have been a reason for pride. But then for us it was a matter of responsibility. Because bread is the foundation. When there is bread, there is hope.
Logistics under fire
Problems with transportation began on the first day. The products were transferred by all possible means: even by passenger trains to Mariupol, while it was possible. They were transported to Kyiv by grain trucks, when fighting was going on near the Zhytomyr highway.
At the same time, currency payments stopped, which made it impossible to purchase some of the imported raw materials. The Enzym Group Extracell trading house, located in Poland, helped.
“Our suppliers took out equipment for us from under the noses of the occupiers,” recalls Oleg Sova, head of the technical department. At that time, some of the equipment from Makarov was evacuated under shelling. Today it is working at our production.
Supporting people is a top priority
Partners in Poland helped to shelter the families of Enzym Group employees. The company organized the evacuation of 111 women and children, 54 of whom were provided with housing by Polish colleagues.
At the same time, a coordination headquarters for supporting the volunteer movement was created on the territory of the enterprise. Enzymivka then produced 60 anti-tank hedgehogs and handed over 130 containers for sand for barricades.
Yeast for almost two million loaves of bread
At the beginning of the Great War, we received an incredibly large number of requests for yeast, recalls Chief National Sales Officer Volodymyr Klymovych and Chief Business Development Officer of Consumer Products Nataliia Reverchuck. Requests came from all over Ukraine. The biggest problems were immediately in Kherson, Sumy, and Kyiv - for them we handed over a six-month need for dry yeast. In Lviv, support points with our yeast worked in markets and stores.
In total, in a month and a half, we handed over yeast as humanitarian aid, which would have been enough for 1,995,547 loaves of bread. And our technologists-consultants, baking bread for us every day, handed over 8,350 loaves of bread to displaced persons and people in hot spots.
How our yeast saved the Bashtansky district of the Mykolaiv region
We recently received heartbreaking news: the Snihuriv city military administration of the Bashtansky district of the Mykolaiv region sent us thanks for providing them with significant support in the first months of the full-scale invasion. We helped provide their district with bread, which was critically important.
The head of the Snihuriv city military administration, Ivan Kukhta, recalls that before the occupation, they understood that they would be among the first to be reached by the enemy: “People are terrified, there is no food structure, they are not bringing bread. There is flour, there is no yeast. This was the case in every community in the district. We started looking and found “Lvivski Drizdzhi”, you were the only one where you could get them. I gave a request to the cars that were taking the humanitarian aid to us to contact them. The queue was long, but we explained our situation and the management went to meet us. I got behind the wheel and drove to get this yeast - we loaded 2 tons and managed to deliver it to the occupation area and distribute it to the bakery. This was enough to last a month. Now, when we gather these days, everyone remembers this: it's like yeast, but it was impossible without it, because bread is made from it. Neither people in the private sector nor bakeries could bake without it. We are very grateful to you for saving us.
A country is people
History once again confirms that only in unity is our strength. Enzym people, we thank each and every one of you for making this contribution back then. There are 27 colleagues who serve in the military among us, as well as 3 veterans. Great respect and gratitude to you for your protection. We remember, wait and are always ready to support.
We are proud of each and every one of them and how Enzym Group has gone through these times.
Glory to Ukraine!
