Natalia Fesyun: The Belle of Bel Ukraine

by Jim Davis

For Natalia Fesyun, life has come full circle: She began her business career in the food industry after completing a degree as a food industry engineer at Kyiv State University of Food Technology. However, when opportunities came along in other fields, she found herself in management positions in major companies that were involved with home appliances, lifestyle and cosmetics products, and even medical products.

However, Mrs. Fesyun's heart was always in the food industry, and when the chance came along in 2006 to return to a small but highly regarded food industry firm, she applied her broad FMCG experience to helping develop the Shostka Milk Plant, with a reputation of producing some of the best cheeses in Ukraine since its founding in 1981.

After actively expanding and perfecting the company's marketing from 2006 through 2009, the sale of the company to the Bel Group, a French-based international cheese producer, resulted in greatly broadened responsibilities. Today, her remit includes government relations at the national, regional, and local level, public relations with a much better-informed public, management of corporate social responsibility projects - and helping other members of the Bel Ukraine board of directors to frame the strategies to take the French-owned company to even higher levels of achievement in business and public service.

In the 16 years since she was first employed with a foreign-owned company, Mrs. Fesyun's quick mind and hard work have given her a reputation as a very creative and results-oriented professional manager, with responsibilities far beyond what she might have imagined as a university student of food technologies.

After being recruited by Pepsi Cola's resident office in Ukraine, her drive led her to ever expanding levels of responsibility and expertise. From a starting point at which she only audited and reported on the performance of Pepsi's franchise partners, the company recognized and rewarded her abilities by moving her up through a succession on jobs, each with greater demands and greater responsibilities.

First as chief accountant and later finance director for PepsiCo Ukraine Ltd, she recruited and trained the accounting and internet technologies staff that fueled the company's expansion. Later, as executive director of what had become one of the largest FMCG operating companies in the country, Mrs. Fesyun had primary responsibility for the liquidation of the Pepsi-owned company and planning and implementation of the organizational transformation to become Pepsi-Cola  Ukraine. She stayed until 2003 as general manager of the new organization to provide management continuity after the transition.

When an opportunity arose that would allow broadening of her horizons, Mrs. Fesyun in 2003 became general manager of Zepter Ukraine International, a Swiss-family owned direct sales organization known for its high quality products in home, lifestyle, cosmetics and medical products. Reporting directly to company president Philip Zepter, Mrs. Fesyun managed an administrative staff of 300 and a sales force of about 3,000 representatives working through seven regional offices. 

Her Zepter experience led to Mrs. Fesyun being recruited to run the Ukraine representative office of a Swiss company that represented Schick shaving and related products in Ukraine, Russia and the Central Asian republics. For Mrs. Fesyun, it was just part of what came to be a broad post-graduate education in FMCG that would serve her well when she made the almost inevitable return to the food industry that she loved.

Natalia Fesyun will tell you that making hard cheese - or even soft cheese - is hard work, and the hardest work of all these days is finding enough milk.

With one of the largest populations in Europe and with the increasing income levels of that population, it was inevitable that European multinationals would have interest in Ukraine. Today, not only Bel Group but Danone and others have become major players in the expanding post-Soviet market, particularly Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The expansion of the market and the greater ability of customers to buy the higher-quality food products they desire, including better quality cheese products, have left all dairy companies in Ukraine struggling to attract the better milk that is essential for high quality cheese.

Mrs. Fesyun points out that rather than cutthroat competition, Bel Ukraine, Danone, and Lactalis, owner of the President brand, work together through the European Business Association and other organizations to improve conditions for dairy farmers and the dairy industry. "We are more partners than competitors," Mrs. Fesyun says proudly.

Mrs. Fesyun sees increasing dairy farm investment, improving milk quality, and developing the entire dairy sector as matters of great importance for all of Ukraine's dairy industry. "We in the industry are working together to meet all of these challenges, but we also need greater commitment from government. The budget calls for a certain amount of support for dairy farmers, but often the budgetary promises are not met. We need government to increase its support for dairy and we need the promises already made to become realities," Mrs. Fesyun said.

"Improving the business climate to attract foreign direct investment is another way the government could help the dairy industry. Our potential for growth is substantial, and a better investment climate would be good for the dairy industry and all the food and agriculture sector," Mrs. Fesyun added.

Although wrestling with milk supply, milk quality, and government regulations are a part of what Mrs. Fesyun does, she also takes great pride in helping develop new products - and new ways in which the company might better serve the community.

Bel's latest CSR project, an educational program for children, has taken off in an unexpected way. Working with professional educators and others - including the Willard Group - Bel developed high quality educational materials, particularly an interactive coloring book for youngsters. Initially, Mrs. Fesyun was worried that the project might not find wide acceptance in schools. Instead, she found that in the test area for usage of the program, the problem was not a lack of acceptance, but total acceptance far beyond the original dimensions imagined for the product. Bel is now working with educational officials to determine the practicalities of making the program a nationwide project.

For Natalia Fesyun, it's all work - and it's all fun.

Jim Davis is a freelance writer residing in Kyiv. He can be reached at jd03150@voliacable.com