Meet Yuliia Voroshchuk

[ topic ] Food Security and Organic Farming

Yuliia Voroshchuk — founder of the “Osio organic” company, which has been growing organic crops on its farm in the Kyiv region since 2018. Before that, she had come a long way, searching for land and battling bureaucracy. And now, the farm grows and sells berries, vegetables, and greenery. With support from Switzerland, Yuliia plans to feed Ukrainians even more actively and tell them about the benefits and taste of organic products.

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs has been supporting Ukraine in the field of organic production since 2004. During 2025, 33 Ukrainian companies received approximately 160,000 Swiss francs in aid (8.2 million hryvnias). An additional 230,000 francs (approximately 12 million hryvnias) was provided to support manufacturers affected by the full-scale war. Moreover, with Switzerland's assistance, a significant number of Ukrainian national stands were organized at international trade fairs, strengthening the position of Ukrainian products in the world and allowing the country to be among the top five exporters of organic products to the EU for seven years. Switzerland itself is one of the largest buyers of organic products from Ukraine: in 2023, the country imported 16,000 tons of products worth UAH 250 million.

I never thought that I would work on the land since I grew up in a village and had had enough of it when I was a kid. Over time, I achieved success in several other areas and realized that I wanted something valuable and delicious. I just wanted to eat well. Initially, it was an experiment for me and my friends: I grew raspberries using organic methods, and everyone liked them. So I decided to scale up.

I was searching for land for two years. Nothing was suitable: it was either sandy, or the soil was too acidic, or there was no road. I had almost given up on the idea. But then I got a call: it seemed we had found something! We arrived at the place, and the weeds were taller than I. However, this was even a plus for us, since it meant that the land hadn't been cultivated for a long time. In addition, there was a road, a village, and electricity poles nearby. The 19 hectares were just the perfect fit.

However, the land belonged to the state, had been forgotten by everyone, and had no technical documentation. We pushed all the local councils to get something started. We explained that we would pay rent and that people would get jobs. But it still took two years to organize an auction. We won it, and since 2018, we have been growing organic plants.

View of the “Osio organic” lands.

Organic farming is about eating delicious food. Nature works in such a way that the earth gives plants everything they need. But when chemicals are used, they affect the soil and the microbiome, and the plants become less tasty. Everyone has already noticed that, for example, tomatoes don’t taste as good as they used to. We grow relict plant varieties that retain their flavor.

We currently have 19 hectares of land, and depending on the season, we employ 15–30 people. Furthermore, we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, corn, various greenery, beans, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, and honeysuckle. Our most popular products are various berries and corn — no matter how much we plant or what price we set, there is always a shortage. Soon, the trees will grow, and we will have nuts too. The harvesting is done by hand only.

We spent some time thinking about the naming. One day, we were sitting in a restaurant with a partner, discussing and writing down different options on napkins. Then we went outside to get some fresh air, and when we returned, the notes were gone. I was frantic, shouting, “Where are the napkins? They have important notes about our organic products!” The waitress came running over, threw them on the table, and shouted, “Here are your organic products! (Osio organic!)”. We knew right away that this was it.

There will never be large harvests in organic farming. We consciously choose to put more effort into producing less. We are prohibited from using herbicides, synthetic pesticides, and GMOs. As in nature, plants often do not survive. This year, for example, we have already replanted cucumbers three times because of the weather. Additionally, we have a very difficult certification process.

Harvest of organic raspberries.

While terms such as “eco” or “farm” are not regulated in any way, the status of “organic” requires a land that has not been cultivated for at least five years. An inspector arrives, records everything, checks, and takes soil and water samples. After that, if you want to sow something, you call the inspector again, show them the seeds, protective equipment, fertilizers, and they analyze everything again. After the harvest, you have to record everything: when and what was harvested, who it was sold to — all stages are documented. We now have both Ukrainian and European certification.

We have an idea to organize tours to our farm. People would come, learn about organic farming, try these amazing flavors, and if they wanted, they could dig in the soil or pick something themselves. Switzerland has given us a grant to develop this initiative. Everything was transparent, with healthy competition and quick decision-making. We used the money to develop a strategy, merchandise, and advertising materials. It was extremely gratifying and important because we couldn't spend money on this ourselves during the war. Finding funds for development is not easy right now, so this was very valuable. I think we will have the results by the end of the year. But we are already very grateful for this support.

We are the only organic farmers in our area.

So when everyone around us is spraying pesticides on their crops, bugs come to us. We also have to treat our crops, but we use completely different, natural methods, even though it is more complicated to use them. Recently, we were treating cabbage for whiteflies. This should be done in the evening, but we accidentally sprayed it in the morning. The product contains essential oils, and when they are mixed with water on the leaves, they turn into a kind of lens that focuses the sun's rays. Eventually, we end up burning the cabbage.

In general, we use nature itself to combat pests. For example, we spray potatoes with a microorganism that weakens Colorado beetles. Then they no longer think about eating the plants, just about surviving. Or we put spiders in the fields to hunt bugs that harm cucumbers and tomatoes. This doesn't affect people at all; we're just friends with those who are also against our enemies.

Yuliia Voroshchuk on her farm.

I'm not saying that hybrids are bad. They meet today's demands when supermarkets need, for example, tomatoes that can be stored for several weeks. But they won't have the same taste, softness, or juiciness. Instead, people remember our tomatoes for a long time — we have customers who have been with us for five years.

In general, we have two types of customers. There are corporate customers, such as Goodwine, Novus, and the Mirali restaurant. And some ordinary people just love to eat tasty food. We deliver our harvest to them throughout Ukraine via Nova Poshta. However, since our products are organic, raspberries, for instance, are shipped only to Kyiv — there's no point in shipping them further, as they simply won't arrive in good condition. And people are happy. We regularly read reviews such as, “I ate everything on the way from the post office; I'm going to order some more.”

Red currant harvest in packaging.

Thus, we have big plans. Another hectare of apple trees. Half a hectare of blackberries. Half a hectare of asparagus. Rhubarb. And thanks to a grant from Switzerland, we will be able to organize tours to tell everyone interested about organic farming. In such a way, even more people in Ukraine can enjoy delicious food.

The Grants programme in the organic sector is funded by Switzerland within the framework of

the “Women Entrepreneurship in the Organic Sector” (WEOS) project implemented by ICO «Information Center «Green Dossier» in partnership with Organic Initiative Public Association and
the Swiss-Ukrainian Programme “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP) implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland)