Last year, the EastFruit project organized B2B meetings for representatives of fruit and vegetable business in Uzbekistan with the support of FAO and EBRD. The event was attended by Ekaterina Vepkhvadze, co-founder of the Georgian company Agritouch.
Agritouch has been operating in the market since 2018 and assists Georgian agro-producers in the direction of agro-consultation farm management, as well as in relation to the export of their products, which contributes to the growth of production productivity and its profitability, says EastFruit. One of the company’s priority areas of activity is blueberries.
“Since 2017, our company was the first to export blueberries from three experimental orchards to the Asian market. Global demand has given us the impetus to develop this sector even further. We realized there was a need to supply high-quality blueberry seedlings to the country and provide advice to growers for the period after planting. That is why we decided to consult Georgian growers. Our company advises growers in the following areas: budgeting and financial analysis, seedling selection, irrigation services, search and purchase of consumables, preparation of bank and grant documentation, orchard management, search for marketing channels, arrangement of cold storage facilities, etc.,” explains Ekaterina Vepkhvadze.
“Thanks to the participation in the event organized by the EastFruit project, our company from Georgia will export not only food products but also services, in particular, as a result of our cooperation with Agro Prodex Group LLC, the first demonstration garden of blueberry will be planted in Uzbekistan on 2 hectares in Tashkent region using low-volume technology, – comments the founder of Agritouch company Ekaterina Vepkhvadze. “Agritouch” will provide the mentioned company with consulting services both in planting the garden and in its maintenance. It should be noted that the export of Georgian companies’ services in the agricultural sector is not very widespread. With our example, we want to encourage other Georgian companies to develop their own activities and provide services to Georgian and foreign companies.”
It should be noted that EastFruit has already repeatedly drawn the readers’ attention to the opportunities for investment in blueberries in Uzbekistan because due to the climatic conditions of Uzbekistan, early varieties of blueberries can be supplied to the market much earlier from the southern regions. In the period May-July, blueberries can be harvested already in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan. Therefore, the berry harvesting and marketing season in the country can be quite long, which makes its cultivation in the country particularly attractive.
If the pilot project is successful, investors are ready to expand the area of plantations and promote further development of the sector.
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