IV National Garden Day: Fruit and berry products to become a “visiting card” of Ukraine in the world market

On June 1, the IV National Garden Day was held on the basis of Agroprodservis Corporation (Nastasiv village, Ternopil region). The National Garden Day is a key event for the horticultural industry in Ukraine. The event was organized by the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (VAR) and the company Dykun with the support of the Ukrainian Food Export Board (UFEB).

During the event, head of VAR Andrey Dykun stressed that the current event had gathered a record number of participants.

“Gardening is a very intensive industry, which requires large investments per hectare. A record number of participants – more than 300 people from all over Ukraine came to the event – says that Ukrainian farmers have a great sense of patriotism. They continue their business in the absence of state support, with an unclear situation with the land market, they think, study the possibilities how to invest in what will have a large added value,” the head of VAR said.

In turn, Ivan Chaikivsky thanked the organizers for supporting the horticultural industry and noted the need to continue the tradition of annual communication of specialists of the horticultural branch on the National Garden Day.

During the special section “Export and processing” the participants examined the main challenges of the supply of fruit and berry products abroad. Director of the Ukrainian Food Export Board (UFEB) Bogdan Shapoval introduced the opportunities for independent analysis of foreign markets for fruit and berries. In addition, he noted that Ukraine has a significant export potential in the segment of fruits and berries.

“Fruits and berries can become another “visiting card” of Ukraine in the world market, as it is today in Poland, which is one of the largest international players in this segment. We have almost ideal climatic conditions and we can grow an organic product. Participants undoubtedly share this opinion and make every effort to increase sales abroad,” Bogdan Shapoval said.

In the course of his speech, the director of Galfrost Maxim Belozerov drew attention to the significant losses of berry products by producers. He noted that this problem can be solved by applying rapid cooling, but the effect of this technology is now leveled by the weak development of cold logistics in Ukraine.

Coordinator of the group of Dutch companies – suppliers of equipment and technologies for the food industry “FoodTechLink Ukraine” Benno Grimberg told about the world trends in the development of equipment for processing fruits and berries, and his colleague Natalia Zelenskaya acquainted participants with solutions for creating additional costs in processing.

The representative of the market “Shuvar” Tatyana Getman said that since 2006 the structure of world trade in berries has not changed much. But the share of the main berries – strawberries – is being taken away by blueberries, raspberries (even despite complex logistics) and cranberries, which were almost not sold in 2006. According to Tatiana Getman, the world trade of fresh berries grows by 15% per year.

Talking about the possibilities of entering the MENA market, the national consultant of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Vladimir Gontar noted that the world trend towards the transition of retail trade to online will not touch this region. For example, in Saudi Arabia, an outlet to a store is a family event, a component of life.

“At the same time, there is a tendency of increasing the share of small shops, and this is good for us, because it’s easier to trade with them. I tried to trade in MENA with large stores, but the first question they ask is the volume. These are “draconian” contracts, which are difficult for us to provide,” Vladimir Gontar said.

After the completion of the theoretical part, the participants of the event visited a garden excursion and had the opportunity to observe the demonstration of garden equipment in work and statics.

IV National Garden Day has become a platform for communication and exchange of experience of representatives of the entire horticultural industry, experienced experts, scientists and practicing consultants.