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Nine Serbian specialty food companies are showcasing their exclusive produce in New York during the Fancy Food Show. This annual event began on June 28th and will last until June 30th.

The finest selection of Serbian organic jams and preserves, premium wild mushrooms, all-natural herbal teas and famous Serbian raspberries, blackberries and other fruit products are being showcased under the joint slogan Serbia Naturally. The presentation of Serbian producers at Fancy Food Show was made possible through the support of USAID.

During this year's event, Serbian cheeses have been presented on the US Market for the first time. The Serbia Naturally stand this year, boasts a rich selection of traditional Serbian cheeses as well as specialty products such as goat and feta cheese.

The nine Serbian companies featured in New York this year are: Agropartner, Pionir, Strela, Bilje Borca, Foodland, Igda Impex, Kuc Dairy, Sabac Dairy and Select Milk.

Produced by The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) since 1955, the Fancy Food Shows are North America's largest specialty food and beverage marketplace. The shows boast 16,000 - 24,000 attendees; 250,000 products including confections, cheese, coffee, snacks, spices, ethnic, natural and organic; 1,300 - 2,500 exhibitors and 81 countries being represented.

The recent global financial crisis and has not deterred Serbian exporters in trying to establish a strong foothold in the international market. USAID, through its Agribusiness Project in Serbia continues to support Serbian companies in their efforts to access foreign markets and establish regular exports.

USAID’s Agribusiness Project which works with Serbian agricultural producers at all stages of the production cycle “from field to fork” to increase the value of Serbian agricultural products sales and agricultural employment.

The exquisite array of Serbia's delicacies will be waiting for you at the Serbia Naturally Pavilion Booth 4250 form the 28th to the 30th of June in the Javits Center in New York City.

The Novi Sad Agricultural fair took place for the 76th time this year between 9th and 16th of May. During this period USAID Agribusiness project was involved in a number of different activities.

On May 12th, a Seminar dedicated to the Global economic Crisis and Its Effects on Agribusiness took place in the Master Conference Hall of the Novi Sad Fair grounds. This event drew a large number of Serbian companies, representatives of various institutions, the academia and the media. This Seminar provided an analysis of the current international market situation, and offered potential solutions to current export constraints faced by Serbian food produce exporters.

However, the USAID Agribusiness Project, again this year, managed to draw attention of the visitors of the fair, through its effective presentation in the Exhibitor Hall 3 of the Fair.

"The Project provided the companies with an effectively designed stand and helped connect them with potential local and regional buyers" – says Nikola Wurzburger, Marketing Communication Consultant with USIAD Agribusiness Project.  "In preparation for the Fair, we trained companies on improving their own marketing and sales skills and assisted them with packaging and presentation design".

Under the umbrella brand SerbianFruit, thirteen small Serbian enterprises were provided with an opportunity and assisted in co-presenting at the joint USAID stand These were: Delikos, Select Milk, Agrograf, Srpski plodovi, Biotrend donato, Plum King, Lucic-Prigrevica, Turkovic, Pogled Sir Produkt, Adonis, Frutto, Kuc Company and NTIM.

This approach aims to support the growth and export potential of small enterprises with high potential products and services that are not yet in the position to reach wider markets.

In addition, this year at the Fair, the USAID Agribusiness Project launched the Business Linkages Program to better connect international buyers and visitors with the producers, sellers, brokers and service providers at the Fair.

"Building upon our large base of international industry contacts, the Project hosted a number of foreign buyers and investors interested in doing bussines in Serbia" – continues Nikola Wurzburger. "We also wokred to raise the visibility of Novi Sad Agricultural Fair on the global trade show map, as one of the major regional agriculture and food shows in South East Europe".

On May 12, Dr. Sasa Dragin, Minister of Agriculture and Mr. Cameron Munter visited the SerbianFruit stand. They got an opportunity to talk to the exhibitors and try some of the excellent products on display.

On Tuesday, 12 May 2009, Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Milan Stegic and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director, Mr. Michael Harvey officially opened a seminar dedicated to “The Global Financial Crisis and its Effects on Agribusiness”.

The global financial crisis has placed huge pressure on fresh produce suppliers to Europe, limiting consumer spending power and making it more difficult for emerging export markets such as Serbia to establish a strong foothold in the market. This Seminar provided an analysis of the current international situation, and offered potential solutions to current export constraints.

The key speaker was Mr. Goran Zivkov, a renowned agricultural economist and former Serbian Minister of Agriculture.  He provided an in-depth analysis of how the economic crisis is affecting Serbian food producers, processors, packers and exporters.

• Frédéric Rosseneu, policy advisor for Freshfel Europe, the European Fresh Produce Association, which represents more than 170 members of the fruit and vegetable industry in Europe, commented on the current European fresh produce market trends.

• Bert Wilschut, product manager for Topfruit at The Greenery, gave an overview of the European apple market during the past 5-10 years and how the varietal range has evolved and what new cultivars have been introduced in the recent past.

• Elwira Felgueiras the import director of Berry Gardens, UK's largest fresh berry supplier, which produces, sources and distributes strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries for the UK retail market, provided  an insight into the European berry market.

The program provided participants with the unique opportunity to network with key European buyers of apples, berries and cherries, as well as key Serbian exporters and international food industry leaders, representatives of the Serbian government, the banking sector and representatives of other Balkans countries. Over 200 people attended the Seminar, including a large number of journalists and editors. Also in attendance was Dr. Ivana Dulic - Markovic, ex-Minister of Agriculture and a number of Ministry representatives.

USAID’s support to hold the conference is just one element of assistance provided by the American people to help Serbia to increase revenue from agricultural production. Acknowledging that the Novi Sad Agricultural Fair is one of the most important events of the year in European agriculture, USAID has launched the Business Linkages Program to better connect international buyers and visitors with the producers, sellers, brokers and service providers at the Fair. In addition, USAID has brought together a number of small Serbian enterprises and helped them to exhibit with a joint stand. This initiative aims to support the growth and export potential of small enterprises with high potential products and services that not yet in the position to reach wider markets.

During an award ceremony that took place today at the Aero Club, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Jennifer Brush and USAID Mission Director, Michael Harvey, handed out certificates to nine young entrepreneurs.

The young entrepreneurs are the winners of the Youth Business Plan Competition initiated by the USAID Agribusiness Project in 2008. The seven winning plans will receive in total almost $100,000 for the initiation of their respective agribusinesses.

The objective of the Youth Business Plan Competition is to create an opportunity for students to conceive, plan, articulate and initiate new agricultural businesses. Furthermore, the USAID Agribusiness Project provides financial start up grants to bring to fruition the winning plans. 

Through this Competition and other similar activities focused on youth, USAID is determined to support the creation of a new class of young agricultural entrepreneurs, which in turn will lead to new jobs and improve the livelihoods of local communities throughout Serbia. 

During this occasion Louis Faoro, USAID Agribusiness Project Chief of Party announced the launch of the 2009 Youth Business Plan Competition and encouraged youth throughout Serbia to become familiar with the details of the competition and start thinking of their own agribusiness plans that they would like turned into reality.

In the address to the winners of the competition, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Jennifer Brush stated "...while agriculture already accounts for a large percentage of Serbia’s exports, there is clear potential for Serbia to create even more wealth through agricultural production.  This potential needs to be nurtured and helped to grow. The knowledge and skills you have learnt in your respective schools, colleges and universities now needs to be put to good use. The grants you will receive today, as a result of your excellent business plans, will help you to turn those plans into reality.  What you will accomplish through your efforts can help to demonstrate to others that strong ideas together with hard work - can and does lead to great results".

USAID has invested $24 million through its Agribusiness Project which focuses on improving agricultural productivity, expanding value-added agricultural processing, opening new markets for export, and building the capacity of producer organizations and service providers which support Serbia’s agribusiness sector. The USAID Agribusiness Project works with Serbian agricultural producers at all stages of the production cycle “from field to fork” to increase the value of Serbian agricultural products sales and agricultural employment.

Michael Harvey - USAID Mission Director and Jennifer Brush -US Embassy Deputy Cheif of Mission with Nemanja Stancic - one of the award winners.

Louis Faoro, USAID Agribusiness Project Chief of Party.

Professor Chris Watkins from Cornell University, in New York, whose specialty is  post-harvest apple treatment and apple ULO storage , visited Serbia in the period between February 20 – March 06.

During the first ten days Professor Watkins toured ULO cold storage facilities in Serbia, monitoring the situation in the field and he subsequently provided counseling for  concrete problems he observed.

Based on information gathered in the field, Professor Watkins prepared and held a seminar on the subject of storage technologies in ULO cold storage facilities and preparation of apples for storage.

This seminar covered the following aspects:

• Impact of the apple fruit ripeness on their quality during the storage period.
• Impact of the factors, which the fruit has been exposed to prior to harvest, on their quality and consistency during the storage, and recommendations related to improvement of these parameters.
• How to apply appropriate treatment of the fruit after the harvest to fully use the advantages of storage in the ULO cold storage facilities.
• Impact of the varying conditions in the storage on the apple quality – optimal storage conditions (temperatures and ratio of the oxygen and carbon dioxide) for certain apple varieties, and how to avoid the risk of physiological and other disturbances occurring during storage.
• Average shelf life of apple and its optimal storage period.
• Recommended activities for preservation of the apples’ firmness and quality immediately after the harvest (including those where chemical preparations are not used) and which are in compliance with the law, as well as with the local and international market requirements.
• Presentation of the latest achievements in the area of apple storage

This Seminar was aimed at all those who deal with storing and the quality of the stored apple, as well as those who provide services to companies and cooperatives that owne ULO cold storage facilities.

For more information on this and related activities, kindly contact Katarina Markovic, Tree-fruit Sector Lead.