The demand for fresh, healthy, organic and local food is increasing in the world. Due to the pandemic and problems with supply chains, there were opportunities for the placement of our goods, which were expertly used by domestic companies. First of all, products such as raspberries and blueberries are registering increased demand, especially on the EU market, the director of USAID’s Competitive Economy Project, Aleksandar Pavlovic, estimates for Nova Ekonomija.
“In the domestic market, there is a noticeable increase in online sales, which has been growing for a long time, but the pandemic has accelerated this process and many manufacturers, especially smaller ones that depended on the HORECA sector, have sought a way to consumers through online sales.”
Our market is small and still low in terms of payments, so the disappearance of HORECA demand has really had a negative impact on micro and small food producers, as well as, say, the wine industry, he estimates.
On the other hand, those who were export-oriented mostly noticed an expansion of demand and sales.
One of the ways to overcome the problems for small companies is integration into larger systems, Pavlovic believes.
Pavlovic cites the example of five companies with which the Project cooperates on the export of fresh and frozen programs to the EU. As he says, they successfully finished the season and recorded impressive results – additional sales of 6.9 million dollars were achieved, 50 new contracts with foreign and domestic buyers and new markets were opened.
These companies have thus provided access to the market for about 420 of their subcontractors, producers mostly from less developed parts of the country. They worked with them on the introduction of standards, improvement of the production process, digitalization, etc.
All companies have announced the expansion of this business model – additional suppliers will be certified and included in export value chains. These are producers of apples, blueberries, organic fruits and vegetables, but it is a model that can function successfully in other areas as well.
SUPPORT TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND UNDEVELOPED AREAS
Asked how this USAID Competitive Economy Project supports food producers and processors in the coming period, he said that access to markets is the only guarantor of food industry growth,” says Pavlovic.
Further development of the model of integration of small producers into larger systems in order to increase exports is one of the types of assistance. Then there is the international promotion and export of Serbian fruit with the further development of the platform www.serbiadoesfruit.com which brings together more than 20 producers of fresh, frozen and organic fruit
Small producers can count on education and the opening of new business opportunities through the online conference and B2B event AgroBelgrade, which will be held tonight (Friday, March 5) at 6 pm on the official Agro Belgrade Youtube channel.
Certification courses organized by the AgroNet Center for Education and Research, founded by professors at the Faculty of Agriculture, are an opportunity to improve the knowledge of employees in the domestic food industry.
Smaller wineries and producers of indigenous varieties of wine can expect help in developing e-commerce.
The project will also provide technical assistance to companies in the fruit, vegetable and wine sectors to access finance from the DFC guarantee scheme loan, in cooperation with Addiko and ProCredit banks.
It is also planned to promote an innovative rotating fund with municipalities in Serbia in order to finance small producers who do not have access to banking products.
The USAID Competitive Economy Project has been working for almost four years to increase the competitiveness of the domestic food industry.
The world wants a domestic (SHD) platform was launched in September 2018, as a place to promote and educate small food producers. During this time, cooperation was established on the platform with about 110 manufacturers and companies, and a large base of followers on social networks was created, and #svethocedomace went viral, Nova Ekonomija reports.
