"Do Your Own": the story of a Kyiv region resident who developed a cheese-making business thanks to a grant competition

Viktoriia Pashynska, a resident of Kniazhychi in the Kyiv region, is developing her own cheese factory, De Gusto, after winning the "Do Your Own" business ideas competition from the "MHP-Hromadi" Charitable Foundation. The victory allowed her to scale up production and launch new products, UNN reports.

Viktoriia came to cheesemaking from a hobby. She previously worked as a manager of a trading company, but decided to change her professional path and opened her own cheese factory within six months. Today, De Gusto produces artisanal craft cheeses according to unique recipes. Among them are "Montreux" with a layer of fruit ash and aged "Waiten Blue" with white-blue mold.

I worked as a manager in a trading company, and then I simultaneously got into cheesemaking at home. Later, I quit a good position, and within six months, I opened a cheese factory.

Winning the "Do Your Own" competition was an important step for business development: the funding received allowed her to purchase new equipment and launch three new types of products, which are already available in stores.

According to Yuliia Korol, head of the social development group (North) of the "MHP-Hromadi" Charitable Foundation, the competition helps small businesses in communities grow and create jobs.

The "Do Your Own" competition is aimed at supporting businesses and micro-businesses in Ukraine, creating new ones and scaling up existing ones. For us, as a foundation, it is important to develop businesses in the territory, because it is the development of communities, tax payments, and the creation of new jobs.

Winning the competition marked a new stage for Viktoriia.

We thank the "MHP-Hromadi" Charitable Foundation for the opportunity to participate in the "Do Your Own" project. We won, received the necessary financial assistance, thanks to which we purchased the necessary equipment and launched three new products that are now successfully sold in stores.

Today, De Gusto is an example of how a small idea, supported by perseverance and self-belief, grows into a sustainable business and becomes part of the economic life of the community.