For our clients, buyers and readers of It's Craft, we decided to open the veil of our producers' inner lives and little secrets. All the most interesting things: how their companies were created - where this spark of creativity gave birth to the product, what interesting production processes are, what is special about them and why more and more consumers are falling in love with craft products.

Our interviewee today is Olesia Markitan, founder of the PovodEst brand.

Olesya, you cooperate with the It`s Craft store, what products do you offer?

  • My passion, a hobby that later grew into entrepreneurship, is jam and syrups. After becoming an entrepreneur, I realized that jam is a seasonal product that is remembered in the fall, and in the summer, no matter how much I wanted to, people don't buy jam. So I added sauces, berry hot sauces, to the jam. Now we have two lines: jam and sauces, which harmoniously complement each other. This year, I offered consumers another flavor collection, Crazy Plum, which is dried plums. It has two flavors so far: "Crazy Plum with hot pepper and white mustard seeds and Crazy Plum with garlic and Lemurian salt. My jams and sauces and two plum flavors are also available in the It`s Craft range.

What makes your products different from similar products from other manufacturers?

  • Now I have 198 flavors of jam in my assortment, made according to different recipes and technologies. There are recipes and technologies that are more than 200 years old, for example, baked jam. It is cooked in a real Ukrainian wood-burning oven, using the technology used by our great-grandmothers. I have restored an ancient recipe for grape jam, which is practically not made anywhere else - from white and dark grapes. I'm always experimenting, cooking, finding new flavors and flavor combinations. It's an endless, creative process.

 Craft professes authorship in everything and praises creators. Do you consider yourself a creator?

  • Craft is not so much about production as it is about an attempt at self-expression. Craft producers are creative people who want to create what they want, exactly what their hearts desire. At first, we make what we like, and then it can grow into production or remain a favorite hobby. Craft is about creativity. It's about self-expression. Craft ends with large volumes. You need to clearly understand where craft is and where production is. Craft is generally handmade. Any craft is more expensive than mass production.

Do you grow the raw materials for your products yourself?

  • I buy blackcurrants, apricots, cherries from my own garden, other fruits and berries from trusted farmers or at the market. During the season, the working day starts at 4 am: you wake up, go to the market, select quality berries and the creative process begins. On average, you spend 16 hours in the kitchen. And so it goes on from May to October, these months are the most exhausting. So some people spend their summers at the sea, and I spend my time creating new flavors.

What new things can "It`s Craft" customers expect from you? Do you have any plans and new challenges?

  • Two more flavors will be added to the Crazy Plum collection. The range of sauces, for example, with fermented garlic and lemon, will be significantly expanded. There will be more novelties, but it is still a secret.