Stories about successful people relocating to remote areas and starting new lives in the heart of nature often tell more about finding inner peace than financial success. Even so, there are exceptions. In 2007, Kristina Suderevskaya and Dmitry Serov decided to move from Moscow to a village near Sochi, where they could raise their children between the sea and mountains, live without hustle and competition, and pursue their hobby: making soap. Today, their company, Krasnopolyanskaya Cosmetics, has reached nearly a billion-rouble turnover, sells products in hundreds of stores, and employs over a hundred. All raw materials needed for production, including snails, are bred by Kristina and Dmitry themselves, who hope to pass the business down to their children.

We spoke with Kristina about cultivating her garden of 35 plant species on the slopes of the Caucasus.

The story of your brand seems more than just a business tale but also an account of a lifestyle transformation, creating a comfortable living environment, your personal Eden, a place so unique it’s even hard to reach. Could we say that your brand represents a form of escapism?

More accurately, this was our attempt to find purpose elsewhere rather than follow the crowd, and realize ourselves outside competitive zones. Leaving Moscow behind wasn’t an escape, it was a move towards something meaningful.

When we moved here, there were still several years to go before the Sochi Olympics, and few dared to start businesses here. We saw Krasnaya Polyana, nestled between the sea and mountains, not only as a beautiful place to live but also as a space where we could create calmly.

It’s common for accomplished individuals to leave big cities and build new lives closer to nature, sometimes sacrificing money and comfort. This phenomenon used to be called downshifting.

Yes, that’s right. We, too, have received this label and we even featured in such articles. In reality, we turned out to be downshifters who recognized the potential of Krasnaya Polyana before others did, acquired land before big business arrived, and managed to establish a strong brand.

As far as comfort goes, today, life in our village offers similar amenities to those found in central Moscow. Yet, when you look up, you see mountains instead of skyscrapers, breathe clean air, and avoid constantly feeling as if you were lagging behind or competing with others’ successes. From this freedom comes greater efficiency. In Moscow, you’d arrive tired after travelling across town for meetings. Here, there’s no fatigue: you’re productive and happy.

In 2009, we bought a house in Medoveyevka, a mountain village, where I continued the soap-making hobby I started back in 2007. Our homemade soap sold well through local souvenir shops, leading to small-scale entrepreneurship; soon, shampoos and balms followed. By 2015, we had hired our first employees.

During the winter of 2018–2019, you implemented the decision to grow the ingredients for your cosmetics yourself, purchasing seven hectares of abandoned land that once belonged to a tea farm and building access roads from federal highways.

We reached the stage of needing to transform our small business into something bigger. Believing that Krasnopolyanskaya Cosmetics was meant to be our life’s work, to be passed down to our children, we opted to structure our production following the example of time-honoured family-run enterprises that established iconic brands. They always begin with the land.

In one interview, you described breaking through the initial terrain: prickly shrubs ripped even thick jackets and trousers. Now you’ve built a home there, nurturing an amazing garden of cosmetic plants, raising snails and last year discussing plans to hit revenues of RUB 1 billion. Have you achieved that goal?

No, we haven’t succeeded. In addition, we revised our targets: understanding that what’s crucial for the company today isn’t revenue size but operational efficiency. As we grow bigger, errors become more costly, so caution and steady progress are vital.

It’s public knowledge that many tasks on the farm and in production have been handled manually. In interviews, your partner Dmitry Serov repeatedly encourages people not to shy away from hard work, advocating literal sweat equity. Has the company’s growth made your personal workload heavier or lighter?

Gradually, areas emerge that delight us, where processes run smoothly without our intervention. Slowly, we’re learning to let go and delegate, though this is tricky! After all, we’re accustomed to working non-stop and being in complete control.

Our subtropical climate doesn’t allow for relaxation. Though seemingly gentle and resort-like, it’s actually complex and unpredictable. For instance, sudden frosts might strike after warmth, followed swiftly by intense heat, temperature swings are unpredictable. Take our opuntia cactus, whose juice we use in cosmetics: previously yielding consistently, this winter’s harsh frosts drastically reduced output. Similarly, our cherished lavender, envisioned since the farm’s inception, struggles in the subtropics, faring better on plains. Continuous attention is required.

Rainfall poses another challenge! Located on a mountain slope, heavy rain erodes the soil and strips out nutrients. Protecting our slope is imperative.

What does saving the slope involve?

We adopt regenerative agricultural practices: instead of tilling soil between rows, we plant companion crops that either anchor the earth or synergistically complement plants integral to our cosmetics. There are no pesticides or artificial fertilizers, soil enrichment relying solely on clipped foliage. Additionally, thanks to regenerative farming, we maximize yields within confined spaces.

Green technologies feature prominently in both agriculture and energy production. You are entirely solar-powered, leaving no carbon footprint. Was this a deliberate choice or was it born of necessity as there was no connection to the grid?

Both are relevant factors. Once electrical infrastructure arrives, surplus solar energy can flow into the grid, allowing us to draw additional power during cloudy periods or nights. At present, summertime generates significantly more electricity than is consumed.

Across seven hectares, you cultivate 35 diverse plant types. How do you decide which plants to grow?

Provençal lavender fields sparked the original concept of starting a farm. Initially, we blanketed the land with lavender. Realizing later that we didn’t need so much, we scaled back. Subsequently, we monitored what else thrived, or potentially might thrive, in our climate, exploring their uses in cosmetics.

Take opuntia, extremely popular in Europe and America. Previously growing wild near our lake, no one considered its utility beyond decoration. Spotting its trendiness, Dmitry attempted to cultivate it and it quickly took root. Another case: Damask roses, incredibly popular in the USSR, once sprawled in vast numbers across fields and now flourishes locally. A similar story with aloe: imported from Holland, trials in open fields failed miserably. Greenhouses allowed us to discover the optimal growth conditions.

So, experiments are ongoing: planting, observing, optimizing. Occasionally, space gets reallocated: cultivation of unnecessary plants is halted and they are replaced with more relevant options. Many ideas come to the surface, enabling line expansions.

One planned initiative involves cultivating avocados, which are viable on open ground down to -12°C, year-round. How feasible is this in our region?

Such avocados already grace our lands: surviving multiple winters, growing robustly, though not yet producing any fruit. Breeding them is a separate tale. Considering the need for frost-tolerant avocados, we sought assistance from subscribers, requesting donations of oversized, unneeded potted avocados. About 100 seedlings arrived and three of these adapted perfectly. We identified a frost-resistance gene in one of them. In collaboration with scientific institutions, we are endeavouring to replicate this gene, cultivating a new strain. This demands considerable effort. Just to have a laboratory isn’t enough; becoming true innovators requires institutional support, state-of-the-art equipment, and scientific expertise. So, we partner with the Sirius Science & Technology Centre and are considering founding an AgroBioTech Park to enhance collaborative opportunities.

You operate a snail farm, a veritable metropolis housing 600,000, featuring maternity units, daycare, playgrounds, vegetable plots, and spa facilities. Mucin, extracted ethically via contrast shower rather than centrifugation (a common practice elsewhere), features prominently in your premium range. Given the complexity and expense of this project, implemented in tandem with Sirius, why are mucin-based cosmetics your most expensive line? Were snails and their breeding your own brainchild or someone else’s suggestion?

This idea stemmed from a friend assisting with implementation. We relish embracing fresh challenges. Mucin is trendy and undeniably potent: moisturizing, balancing skin tone, expediting wound recovery, boosting collagen synthesis. Before us, no Russian producer offered mucin-derived cosmetics. While we affectionately refer to these 600,000 snails as colleagues rather than pets, investments remain unrecovered, though rapid ROI is rare in modern business ventures.

Presently, you boast 11 cosmetic ranges. Which is your favourite?

I’m drawn to current projects being developed. At present, we’re focused on roses and our forthcoming Queenrose line catering to proponents of smart anti-aging, women prioritizing high-quality, elegant self-care irrespective of age. My team and I pioneered a breakthrough method for extracting rose essences, not simply steam distillation, but truly active components.

There’s a prevalent myth that natural cosmetics are inevitably less potent than synthetic alternatives.

Refuting this myth constitutes part of our mission. Natural cosmetics utilize identical active ingredients found in synthetics, but sourced organically via biotechnology. We learn, evolve, and pioneer extraction methodologies, having laboratories, technicians, patents, proprietary know-how. Collaborative networks with academic institutions are expected to expand.

Originally, you began solo, crafting soap in your kitchen. Do you miss those early days when your entire production fitted neatly on a single countertop?

Sometimes I do miss those times: fewer responsibilities, more creative expression and tangible activity rather than administrative duties. Yesterday, I visited our soap-making facility, eager to brew soap manually but, alas, I was summoned to a meeting beforehand. Constantly engaged in devising new products, I crave hands-on engagement, even if merely by collecting flowers.

Lavender and roses are enjoyed to the full when visitors come. Those moments grant me valid reasons to walk, photograph, and savour tea surrounded by fragrant blooms beneath towering peaks.

Krasnopolyanskaya Cosmetics reflects terroir, rooted profoundly in Krasnaya Polyana. What makes this land unique? What initially captured your heart?

Our farm is a place of special energy, a special scent, and special meaning. Nuzzled between mountains and the sea, basking in generously radiant sunlight, tenderly veiled by mists, suffused with the scent of Damask roses, lavender, orange groves, this setting resonates uniquely. Unconditionally entranced, here you are compelled to live, love, and create.