Organic Buckwheat Wins New Markets
Samir Mehonic and Vesna Latifovic were in a unique position. Their organic buckwheat products had just won the “Golden Rose” prize for best new product of the year at an international food fair in Sarajevo. Yet their resources were stretched so thin that they had stopped production. Fortunately, USAID’s Linking Agriculture Markets and Producers (LAMP) stepped in. A LAMP employee had seen their display at the fair and encouraged them to apply for a grant.
Says Latifovic, “Our first application was rejected and the LAMP team actually cried with us. Then they helped us improve our business plan and our second application was successful.”
The grant helped Mehonic and Latifovic to purchase a factory and equip it with pasta-making equipment. In addition, their company, Heljda Eko Sarajevo, makes 20 other products including buckwheat flour, tinctures, pillows and honey. Everything is gluten-free and healthy, particularly for children and the elderly.
Heljda Eko has provided raw ingredients for Eurofarm products for some time now, and the company recently won a new contract to supply its products to Mercator supermarkets throughout BiH.
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| Heljda Eko staff Bilsana Bajramovic and Denis Hrnicevic celebrate
World Healthy Food Day with a display of Heljda foods in Mercator |
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