Ajvar anyone? This delicious sweet red-pepper dip is one of just many food products seeing increased demand from region-wide importers. USAID helped Kosovo food producers and processors to find new markets for their goods at the second annual Food Forum, organized in partnership with local fruits and vegetable associations. The Food Forum is one of the premier events that provides great exposure for local exporters to interact face to face with agricultural producers, regional buyers, and retailers. This month, over 100 companies participated in business-to-business discussions to identify new market opportunities and help link small scale producers to larger supply chains. These linkages result in new jobs, and more income for Kosovo’s agribusiness sector.
A recent partnership between Doni Fruits, one of the largest suppliers of fruit and vegetables in Kosovo, and Eurofruti, a Kosovo producer of various berries, is a result of how linkages established at last year’s food forum are helping link supply with the demand in the Kosovo market. This specific partnership led to a new contract between Doni and Eurofruti to initiate the first ever Kosovo brand of small-packed frozen berries for local and export markets. This partnership is one of many achievements of the first annual Food Forum, which generated Euro 220,000 in new sales and resulted in over Euro 1.1 million investments to improve product quality and meet industry requirements. The second edition of the Food Forum, which took place on November 1, 2022, is expected to yield even more impressive results. This is a strong example of how USAID support can catalyze strong, sustainable agribusiness partnerships to capture new domestic and export market opportunities.
USAID Compete Activity for USAID Kosovo (Cardno)