From home kitchen to Wolt sensation: The Manga Sushi story

From a rented apartment kitchen to one of Kazakhstan’s best-known modern Japanese brands, Manga Sushi has grown with creativity and persistence. Today, 40% of their orders come through Wolt, helping them reach new customers and giving them the time and space to keep innovating.

In 2009, Maxim Bortnikov was living a double life.

By day, he was building a corporate career, first at Deloitte, where he rose quickly through the ranks, and later at an international uranium company.

By night, and often well into the early morning, he was preparing sushi in a small apartment, packing boxes, and running deliveries himself.

It wasn’t glamorous. It was exhausting. And it was unsustainable.

“I was missing work deadlines because I was also managing sushi orders, cooking, and delivering them myself,” Maxim recalls. “Eventually, the two worlds collided and I was forced to choose, and I chose my own business.”

That decision set Manga Sushi on a journey from side project to one of Kazakhstan’s most recognizable modern Japanese brands.

Why sushi? That very first taste

The seed was planted years earlier, when Maxim visited a Japanese restaurant for the first time. The precision, the beauty, the atmosphere … it was unlike anything he’d experienced.

Later, his future business partner, a trained sushi chef, made sushi for him at home. 

“I still remember the first taste. It felt like we unlocked something new,” Maxim says. “We looked at each other and said, ‘why not create something of our own?’”

From that conversation came the first chapter of Manga Sushi: delivery-only, operating from a rented apartment, with Maxim and his partner doing it all themselves.

Growing without a map and a practical turning point

By 2010, Manga Sushi had opened its first full‑service restaurant. Success brought more orders and new demands on the team.

Delivery still ran largely on paper and phone calls. Couriers were coordinated manually. Real‑time tracking tools weren’t widely available then, and guest messages were answered one by one — often by Maxim between kitchen tickets.

“It was time‑consuming, unreliable, and didn’t give customers the experience we wanted,” he says. “We tried custom‑built solutions and promotional campaigns, but the tech was never stable enough to scale.”

To keep customers close, the team put resources into opening more locations and shortening delivery distances. It helped, but the day‑to‑day coordination still pulled focus from what mattered most.

In 2019, Manga Sushi partnered with Wolt.

“Wolt understood both the guest and the business side. They didn’t just offer a platform, they listened, solved challenges, and even implemented our ideas,” Maxim says. “From day one, it felt like a partnership.”

Looking back, Maxim believes they would have found a way regardless, that’s what entrepreneurs do, but likely with slower growth and lower customer satisfaction.

The impact: stability, reach, and happier guests

Today, 40% of all Manga Sushi orders come through Wolt. For Maxim, that’s not just a number, it’s stability. In fact, more than 170,000 orders have been delivered through Wolt, creating a steady flow the team can count on.

“It means a predictable daily flow and more room to plan long-term,” he says. “Knowing Wolt is reliable… it’s peace of mind.”

The impact has been felt on multiple fronts:

• Revenue growth from tapping into a larger customer base with year-on-year growth of up to 163%

• Reach into younger, digital-first audiences who prefer app-based ordering

• Higher customer satisfaction thanks to faster delivery and real-time tracking

• 25% more first-time customers through Wolt Ads

Perhaps most importantly, Wolt now handles the operational weight of order flow, driver tracking, and customer support, freeing Maxim’s team to focus on what they do best: creating great food and memorable experiences.

With delivery sorted, Manga has space to innovate

With delivery running smoothly, Manga Sushi has been able to experiment:

• Introducing Kazakhstan’s stylish sushi packaging

• Launching a Japanese fast-food “square pizza”

• Testing new restaurant formats and digital brand concepts

Over 15 years, they’ve stayed creative, bold, and consistent, a combination Maxim believes has inspired other entrepreneurs to start their own journeys. “Above all, I’m proud that Manga has inspired others to start their own business,” he says. “That’s a legacy I really care about.”

Maxim isn’t slowing down. The next chapter for Manga Sushi includes cloud kitchens, digital brands, tech-driven concepts, consulting, and franchising.

“It’s not just about food anymore,” he says. “It’s about experience, emotion, and convenience. The idea of shaping that future with the right partner … that’s what drives me now.”

A word to fellow merchants

Maxim knows every merchant’s path is different. But he also knows the challenges: stretched resources, operational headaches, the tension between running the business and growing it.

“My advice? Focus on your product and your guest experience,” he says. “Find partners who can take the weight off your shoulders so you can work on the things only you can do.”