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Study tour to Sweden results in
initial sales of $70,000
 In
response to a request from the Macedonian
Association of Processors, from November 3 to 7,
2008 AgBiz and the MAASP Project supported and
organized a study tour to Sweden for Macedonian
vegetable processing companies to identify new
customers. Altra, Vipro, Kim, Konimex, Mabi
Trade/Dentina, Bonum, Medium Export, Tehnoalat
and Pajdakov/MTD Prom for the first time had an
opportunity to explore the potential and advance
their knowledge of the Swedish market.
During this intensive learning experience, four
leading Swedish importers of processed/fresh
vegetable products were visited as well as the
largest food distribution centre in Scandinavia.
The nine Macedonian companies also visited
numerous retail shops that sell traditional
Southeastern European and Balkan foods. AgBiz
customers met with the managers of the most
famous supermarkets in Sweden, and gained a good
understanding of the range, diversity and
differentiation between Swedish retail shops,
and how Macedonian products could be adapted to
Swedish tastes and legal requirements.
Therefore, the primary objective of this
activity was accomplished since useful
information on the Swedish market for
traditional ethnic (Balkan) foods such as ajvar,
lutenica, pindjur, roasted and preserved peppers
was obtained and analyzed by the group.
 First
hand information on Swedish processed vegetables
sales volumes and sales, company and brand
shares, distribution and pricing data was
collected, and was subsequently distributed to
other participants in the Processed Vege-tables
Value Chain by AgBiz.
“The biggest benefits to participants were 1)
having a unique opportunity to observe the
potential of this new market and its
distribution dynamics, and 2) the opportunity to
achieve accelerated entry of processed vegetable
products into the Swedish market“; said Zlatko
Edelinski, the AgBiz Processed Vegeta-bles Value
Chain Coordinator and study tour facilitator.
During the study tour AgBiz customers had B2B
meetings with Swedish buyers, presented their
products and assessed their competitiveness in
supplying traditional processed vegetable
products to Swedish companies. Their conclusion
was - there are numerous opportunities for
further development of the Swedish market for
Macedonian processed vegetables products! The
reasons are strong Swedish demand for ethnic
products, and a flavor profile that fits current
trends in retail and food service channels.
Three months after the tour two out of nine
companies have succeeded in shipping $70,000
worth of processed vegetables products as well
tea and apple vinegar products to new Swedish
buyers. The remaining participants are
intensively negotiating with potential Swedish
buyers.
“This type of activity was very useful for
establishing and strengthening new buyer
relationships and learning new technologies, for
example innovative packaging of pepper based
products, and effective organization of
exports.” said Mr. Tome Kichukov of Tehnoalat.
AgBiz’s Human Capacity En-hancement Program has
to date organized ten study tours that have 1)
enabled 62 of our custom-ers to better
understand new mar-kets in Europe and United
States and 2) helped more than a hun-dred
individuals learn new tech-nologies as well as
management and marketing practices.
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