EastFruit experts were sympathetic to the mounting challenges farmers and wholesalers faced as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions limited opportunities for establishing new trade ties this year due to the lack of industry exhibitions, conferences, congresses, trade missions, and other events, which normally help to foster new business contacts. Additionally, the risks associated with international trade has increased dramatically due to these restrictions since the ability to trace a dishonest supplier or buyer remained limited due to travel restrictions between countries and regions.

Thus, EastFruit launched virtual trade missions this year for key export products as a way to still provide opportunities to meet our verified partners – suppliers of fruit and vegetable products – in a personal way. This innovative format allowed the producers’ faces, farms, and storage facilities to be seen as well as make direct contacts. Before introducing a company to you, we made sure it had the necessary volumes of quality products that could be stored, sorted, packed, and delivered to buyers.

The first virtual trade mission was posted on our YouTube channel back in August and was dedicated to direct apple exporters from Moldova who were also apple producers. Since Moldova urgently needed to diversify its exports, we recorded this video in English to help apple exporters find buyers (e.g., importers, wholesalers, and supermarket chains) in countries outside the former USSR.

Watch the virtual trade mission video for Moldova below:

In addition to introducing the companies in the video, listed below are some interesting facts about the apple business in Moldova as well.

1. Moldova is the world leader in apple export per capita
2. Moldova produces 20 times more apples than is needed to cover the domestic demand for fresh consumption
3. Moldova exports more apples than the Netherlands
4. Moldova is 16 times smaller in territory than France, but exports only 30% fewer apples than France
5. Moldova is one of the 10 largest world apple exporters

We published similar videos with a virtual trade mission of Ukrainian apple exporters as well. We encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel in order to watch our virtual trade missions and more in the future!

Сообщение EastFruit’s first virtual trade mission – Moldovan apple exporters (video) появились сначала на EastFruit.

A video presentation of four leading apple exporting companies from Ukraine with interesting facts about the prospects of Ukraine as an important exporter of fresh apples appeared in English on the EastFruit YouTube channel.

“In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancellation of exhibitions, conferences and trade missions, the opportunities for establishing new trade contacts, especially at the international level, is sharply reduced. This can negatively affect the development of agribusiness, and especially the fruit and vegetable business, where products have limited terms of sale,” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the investment department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and head of the regional project for the development of fruit and vegetable trade, operating in six countries, particularly, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

“FAO and EBRD are trying to do everything possible to ensure that important business contacts can be established for the development of fruit and vegetable exports. To do this, we are actively developing our trading platforms, working with industry associations, and creating such virtual trading missions as we call them. The popularity of our YouTube channel and EastFruit portal allows us to get good results even for this promotion format. By the way, we will be happy to provide this platform for representatives of other sectors of the fruit and vegetable business,” says Andriy Yarmak.

Read also: EastFruit’s first virtual trade mission – Moldovan apple exporters (video)

The video lists interesting facts about the prospects for the development of the apple business in Ukraine. In particular, it is noted that the agricultural lands of Ukraine are approximately equal in area to the land tracts of the two largest EU countries, namely Germany and France, but the quality of these lands is higher. Due to the unique climate, with a minimum amount of precipitation, a large number of sunny days and high fluctuations in night and day temperatures, an apple grown in Ukraine has high quality indicators in color, BRIX, and taste.

Also, the dry and hot climate in summer with cold winters allows Ukrainian gardeners to use less plant protection products than in most other European countries. That is why Ukraine is a country with one of the highest growth rates in apple exports in the world, and that is why the country was able to quickly find markets outside the traditional countries of the former USSR.

Сообщение Ukrainian apple exporters – presentation in English and interesting facts появились сначала на EastFruit.