BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 3
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Some 14 Georgian companies took part in GulFood 2021, the international exhibition of food, beverage, and industry, which was held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on February 21-25, 2021, Trend reports via EastFruit portal.
The participation of Georgian companies at the exhibition was co-financed by the Produce in Georgia Agency and the USAID Agricultural Program in Georgia. The exhibition presented Georgian nuts, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, natural juices, dried fruits, honey, bay leaves and tea.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a difficult year in terms of exhibitions in the food and beverage industry. Nearly all exhibitions were postponed or cancelled and the online space for such a sector was much less efficient. Thus, the GulFood 2021 exhibition was practically the first event to be held in person after a long hiatus," said Roman Kezharashvili, the export manager of the Produce in Georgia Agency.
Kezharashvili stressed that GulFood 2021 is one of the most authoritative and demanded international exhibitions in the food sector, which before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic received about 100,000 visitors annually.
“It is too early to talk about concrete results (volumes, etc.) for Georgian producers. Yet, our companies were actively negotiating and I am sure they have new opportunities,” he said.
Georgian's Agritouch company is participating at GulFood event not for the first time. The founder of the company, Ekaterina Vepkhvadze, said that she was satisfied with the outcome noting that the exhibition provided a good opportunity to get acquainted with sector participants from various countries, establish contacts, and conclude preliminary agreements.
“Our company presented several types of products at the exhibition and the main one was blueberries. The popularity of this berry all over the world is very high, but Georgia as a producer is still little known so we tried to provide the maximum amount of information,” she said.
Vepkhvadze noted that the interest in agricultural products at the exhibition was quite high.
She thanked the Produce in Georgia Agency and the USAID Agricultural Program for financial support for the participation of Georgian companies in the exhibition.
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