Gulfood 2018. Reviews of participants

The international tradeshow Gulfood recently finished in Dubai. This year, with the support of the ITC project in Ukraine, ten producers and processors of fruit and vegetable products from Kherson, Mykolayiv and Odessa regions presented their products at the exhibition. These are the representatives of the companies Vladam, Gorikh Prychornomorya, Agropatryot, Rozdolne, Euroservicegroup, Saperavi, Pivdenagropererobka, Plodoovochevy combinat Kherson, Nash Produkt and Enograi. It was the first time these SMEs took part in the Gulfood.

VISIT PROGRAM

Last year, ITC consultants and Ukrainian farmers visited the Gulfood tradeshow with an introductory visit. Since then, considerable work has been done to enable companies from the South of Ukraine to present their products on a stand and receive the most information about the peculiarities of the market in the UAE.

The program in Dubai was intense. Before the participation in the tradeshow Ukrainian producers of vegetables and fruits got acquainted with the general presentation of the market in the UAE. Which food products most import UAE? What is the dynamics of imports in recent years? What is the potential for import for Ukrainian producers? What should they do to establish connections and access to this market? These and other questions were answered by the international ITC consultant, who has been working for a long time in the UAE, Suvra Chakroborty.

The Ukrainian delegation also visited the wholesale fruit and vegetable market Aweer and the Al Ras re-export trading hub. Here our farmers get acquainted with the conditions and features of the trade process, got to know about the prices of vegetables and fruits, the requirements for packaging, storage, and more.

During the Gulfood tradeshow, Ukrainian businessmen visited the stands of potential partners, connected with suppliers of vegetables and fruits from different countries, presented their products at the stand.

SYSTEM WORK IS NECESSARY

“I have good impressions from the Gulfood. Our products were interesting there, although, of course, not all. We need to work on packaging, branding, marketing, learn to properly promote the product. But we got a lot of useful information on how to prepare for the next trade exhibitions, how to get to this market and work with our product,” comments Olena Kolomoytseva, ITC national project manager.

“Our stand was attended by Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Arab Emirates Yuri Polurez. He noted that Ukrainian producers of fruit and vegetable products have a great potential in the UAE market. Opportunities are for everyone because there are more than 200 nationalities in the country, and the import of products is more than 80%. There are a lot of cultures and national cuisines. They are ready to cooperate, but there are issues with logistics and system work. We must be able to build relationships with buyers and convince potential partners, why they should give preference to our products, and not to dozens of others,” says Olena Kolomoytseva.

VOLODYMYR GURZHIY: “WE SAW OUR ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES”

“I received from my visit to Dubai everything that was expected. I wanted to see the peculiarities of the work of this market, it was interesting to know how a commercial structure was built, how the product reaches the end consumer, to understand pricing,” says Volodymyr Gurzhiy, a representative of the Enograi and AUSP Fruit companies.

“It was also interesting to know what the competitors look like. The tradeshow brought many contacts. Maybe a few percent will be useful, but it’s not bad. We had experience in this market before. We sent apples. But now we clearly understand that we are doing wrong, where are our advantages and that we need to change. This is a very important experience,” says Volodymyr Gurzhiy.

PAVLO TULBA: “WE REACHED MANY REAL CUSTOMERS”

“For our exhibition product, it was the main tradeshow, because this market is very wide and important for us. We brought a new product – honey-nut paste. We were interested in the reaction of buyers. We talked to a lot of people, and we realized that this product is interesting and relevant to them. Also, the interest was caused by the walnut by specially processed technology “, – said the president of the cooperative Gorikh Prychornomorya Pavlo Tulba.

“Before deciding on the production of any product, there is no other option than visits to such exhibitions, said Pavlo Tulba. We reached a lot of contacts and real customers who are ready to buy our products. They are from different countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, UAE, Iran, Qatar, Pakistan and others And now we are negotiating with them about delivery.”

“It’s a great chance with ITC to enter the global markets. At first, we were skeptical about this, but now we see the results. Changes in our product and success at the Gulfood are all about it. If we compare our participation in the Polagra tradeshow in Poland, further cooperation with ITC and participation in Gulfood, we can see a big difference. We have considerably expanded the opportunities and number of customers. Participation in such exhibitions prompts us to progress,” said Pavlo Tulba.

YEVGEN ZHDANYUK: “PLANS TO PROMOTE MANUFACTURING”

“The trip was very interesting. Good organization, lots of acquaintances and new professional experience. We have seen approaches to product quality, storage, packaging, processing. Therefore, we draw conclusions for ourselves and will continue to cooperate with the ITC, says Evgeni Zhdanyuk from the Saperavi company. We have to improve. The curiosity of frozen vegetables and fruits is high. We have been talking with traders from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, other European countries. We realized that the demand for the products is high, so we plan to increase the production of frozen berries and pay more attention to quality.”

The project “Linking Ukrainian SMEs in the Fruits and Vegetables Sector to Global and Domestic Markets and Value Chains” aims to help Ukrainian enterprises from Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions to integrate into domestic and global value chains and access new markets, with a focus on the EU. The Project is funded by the Government of Sweden and the International Trade Centre.