Everyone knows that Ukrainian products are valued abroad for their quality and reasonable prices. Ukraine is proud of products from sweets to strong alcohol. And what about vegetables? Is it possible for a local company to export to Europe, or even sell vegetables around the world?

These issues were discussed with the Vinnytsia agricultural enterprise Organic-D, or more precisely, with its director Vadim Krychkovsky.

– Vadim, tell us please about your company, which has become mostly familiar to the people of Vinnytsia.

– Organic-D is only 3 years old. Its existence began with 60 hectares, on which mostly carrots were grown. We became interesting on the market with our borscht set – in addition to carrots, Organic-D differs from other companies in sweet beets, quality potatoes, onions and cabbage.

– What area are you cultivating now and how exactly?

– Now we have about 300 hectares under cultivation. By 2025, we plan to convert the entire area to drip irrigation for growing roots and other vegetables. Until now, in addition to vegetable wedges, we grow cereals and sunflowers.

Today, vegetable crops in Organic-D number 200 hectares and a drip irrigation network is applied to all of them. Thanks to the organic fertilizer usage and a well-developed system of plant protection, our vegetables are increasingly revealing their genetic potential from season to season. Yields of carrots, for example, is 80 tons per hectare.

– Why did you focus on borscht vegetables and are you satisfied with the local market as a producer?

– The idea to create a modern agricultural farm did not come from nowhere. A market analysis was conducted, which showed that there are few farms in the Central Ukraine concentrated in this direction. In Vinnytsia region there are almost no producers who grow vegetables in accordance with our volumes. Organic-D products under the brand name of the same name are sold in the largest networks of Vinnytsia region and Ukraine. But despite the young company success, for a year of activity in Organic-D we set a goal to sell vegetables abroad, because it, firstly, expands and stabilizes our capabilities, and secondly, provided the right actions and made the company is more profitable.

– What markets did you look at?

– We looked closely at Europe, namely Poland and Germany. We had preliminary arrangements with a global baby food manufacture. They are interested in our products, because the nitrate load per kilogram of vegetables in our country does not exceed the norms of the EU for children. But the pandemic has made the great changes in management decisions. In addition, potential partners require volumes of products that we will be able to reach only in 2025. The scale is a problem of many agricultural enterprises. So, for example, the same fruit trees are often grouped together and exported under one “flag”. This scheme is not very suitable for us, but we need to start with something.

– How are you looking for partners now?

– We have repeatedly considered the need to visit exhibitions in search of international partners. Initially, the focus was on the German Fruit Logistica – one of the largest platforms for business in the world. But then reoriented to the East. In 2021, the United Arab Emirates will host the Expo, which is considered the most prestigious platform for demonstrating innovative developments and finding investors. In general, this is a chance to express yourself.

And now we are negotiating with a food company from Saudi Arabia. This year we intend to supply them with trial batches of goods.

– And what attracts world partners and what difficulties arise in work?

– Abroad, the so-called purity of the product, its environmental friendliness and uniqueness are valued. Europeans are tired of everyday packaging, they want “handmade”. But due to the most mechanized production processes for growing vegetables “borscht set” and a minimum of manual labor, vegetables have a relatively low cost. As for the East, the business culture here has a number of features and may be unusual for Ukrainian business. Often, personal relationships take precedence over commercial relationships.

In the last year, a number of suppliers and importers have encountered problems with the transportation of products and suffered losses. But we hope that these are temporary difficulties.

– In summary, why do entrepreneurs try to export?

There are many reasons. This includes sales growth, expansion of the range and profit in “hard currency”, experience, competitiveness at home, because “we are”, “we could”, our onions are eaten by the inhabitants of the oil kingdoms of the Persian Gulf!

Автор материала: Юлия Черник