Nut-based sauces, pastes, and desserts: how a family of immigrants built a thriving business in Lviv region.
The great war forced Inessa and Taras Petukhov to leave their hometown of Mykolaiv and seek safety in western Ukraine. While the family adapted to their new circumstances, the man explored various jobs to support his family of three children.
In his spare time, he experimented with different recipes using walnuts. After attending a training session, Petukhov returned home with the idea of turning his husband’s hobby into a business. Now, the family produces walnut spreads, sauces, snacks, and seasonings under their own brand, processing up to a hundred kilograms of walnuts each month.
Business Idea in Ten Days
Petukhov became interested in walnuts in 2019 after a seminar on healthy eating. Occasionally, he experimented with recipes by incorporating walnuts. In the port city of Mykolaiv, he often observed large batches of domestic walnuts being exported, while on the domestic market, primarily imported peanuts and hazelnuts were used for producing value-added products.
After the war began, Taras put his family on one of the evacuation trains, which later turned out to be heading to Lviv. Eventually, he followed them. Ultimately, the whole family ended up in the village of Chishki in the Lviv region, where they rented a house.
In their new location, they had to start from scratch. In Mykolaiv, Taras worked in grain transportation. There was no similar work in Lviv, so he had to find various sources of income: he worked as a taxi driver, loader, and at furniture and sewing factories. However, none of this met the needs of a family with three children.
His wife was also looking for opportunities, so she participated in a five-day training program by the Lviv NGO "Women's Perspectives" called "I Can!". Inspired by the success stories of the participants, she returned home with the idea of turning her husband's hobby into a business.
Ten days after the training, the Local Farmer Fest craft fair for local producers launched in Lviv region. The family decided to join in and prepared a batch of walnut sauces and snacks. With this product, they were the only vendor at the fair, selling almost all their goods in just two days.
The successful fair boosted their confidence as entrepreneurs. They were also inspired by a meeting with chef Yevhen Klopotenko, who provided the family with professional advice.
As the family began to research the market, they discovered that the niche for ready-made walnut products was nearly empty. There were few products containing walnuts on store shelves, and almost no ready-made pastes.
Walnuts as the Foundation
The small production facility is located in Chishki. The family registered as an individual entrepreneur (FOP) and allocated two rooms in their rented house for production. Part of the equipment was purchased in Mykolaiv, and they expanded their inventory with a grant from the "Caritas" fund, which allowed them to receive up to 187,000 UAH.
The spouses divided responsibilities as follows: the husband produces the goods and creates recipes, while the wife handles marketing, attracting investments, and development.
The family produces around 20 types of walnut products under the ITARA brand: spreads, sauces, desserts, and nut-based seasonings. They also make snacks with candied fruits from their own production (using apples, pumpkins, plums, and pears sourced from local residents). Recently, they began producing oil.
0"We attract up to four workers as needed, so to speak, on an outsourcing basis. People help with the initial processing and cleaning of the nuts. This is currently unofficial and episodic, but by 2025 we plan to hire two people on a permanent basis to ensure stable production," says Petukhova.
They clean the shells by hand and dry the peeled nuts in an infrared dryer. A colloid mill is used for making pastes. The facility has a dispenser for filling glass jars and a cutter for chopping nuts. One distinctive feature of their product is that during production, the nut kernels are cleaned of their skins in a special drum, which eliminates the bitter taste.
Among their sauces are classic and original recipes, such as the national Georgian sauce "Baje," which a Georgian neighbor taught them to prepare. Pesto sauce is one of Petukhov's favorites, so they also produce it for sale.
He prepares walnut sauces with additions of orange, mustard, pomegranate, and chili using his own recipes, employing only natural ingredients.
Improving product quality and market positioning was aided by a grant program from the Center for the Development of Farming "Harvest of Victory". This helped attract a technologist who refined the recipes, extending the shelf life of pastes and sauces from two to three weeks to three months.
Based on laboratory analyses from the State Consumer Service, he selected organic preservatives and antioxidants. They were chosen to ensure the products are safe for children and the elderly. In particular, they use preservatives from egg whites and dairy bacteria.
Although the rural entrepreneurs' production is small, it has been organized in compliance with food production standards. They sterilize containers before filling, use pasteurization technology, quartz treatment, and disinfect surfaces with cleaning agents.
In April, the family won a grant from the UK-RAIN-A 2.0 project for developing technical documentation, creating a HACCP (international standard for ensuring safe production) plan, and developing a technological map and technical product specifications. Since 2019, Ukrainian legislation has required market operators to implement such systems in their production facilities.
"Thanks to the grant, we were able to legalize our activities in accordance with the law, which increased trust in our products among buyers and corporate clients. This opened up opportunities for us to expand our business and scale our activities to new markets," notes Petukhova.
1In the village where the production facility is located, there are many walnut plantations in private households, so there is no shortage of raw materials. The entrepreneurs process up to 100 kg of walnuts per month. "We buy walnuts from our village, neighboring villages, and collaborate with farmers and walnut orchard owners. Our volumes are still small, so we have no issues with raw materials," emphasizes Petukhova.
Future Plans
The family sells their products mainly at fairs, with a small portion through Instagram. In 2024, they received corporate orders. Their plans for 2025 include expanding their network of partners and retail locations, increasing production volumes to 300 kg per month, and broadening their product range.
"Once we have people on a permanent basis, we can increase production volume and enter the B2B sector - stores, cafes, and restaurants. Restaurateurs have told us that our sauces could be included in restaurant menus. Our product is unique, and at fairs, we are usually the only ones with such offerings," says Petukhova.
2Currently, the entrepreneurs are seeking investments to acquire a modular building that will comply with HACCP standards. Among the options are grant programs.
"Local craft food productions are actively developing right now. I recently attended the New Food Summit, and large businesses are saying they are paying attention to local production. Therefore, we plan to expand. We are also looking forward to export opportunities, but that will come a bit later," adds the entrepreneur.
Since relocating to Lviv region, she has participated in various grant and mentorship programs, completed business training at Radar Tech, Startup Tech School, Silab, "Women's Perspectives," and at the "She" and "Wings" hubs, the Center for Entrepreneur Support, UNDP, and the regional business acceleration program from the "Regional Recovery" project supported by the UK government (UK International Development).
"To purchase professional equipment, we attracted grants, which has helped us immensely. We would have taken a long time to reach the current level on our own," concludes the entrepreneur.