BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.24
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Despite Georgia’s high hopes for blueberries exports to the EU, the expectations have not yet been justified - the Georgian berries cannot enter the European market, Trend reports via Georgian media.
This year, the export of blueberries has grown from 175 to 650 tons in comparison with 2019, 99 percent of the product has been exported to Russia.
According to Ioane Morchiladze, Director of LLC Efko company, Georgian blueberries have failed to enter the European market.
“Exports to Europe were carried out in small quantities and blueberry producers mainly work in the Russian market,” he explains.
In Morchiladze’s words, finding access to the European market is the main goal of all blueberry producers in Georgia as blueberries are in very high demand and very expensive there
“The entry into the European market requires a certificate, but this does not guarantee anything either - the EU has very strict regulations, and if at least one substance that does not meet standards is found in a product, the goods will be returned,” Morchiladze notes.
In his words, for this reason, the Russian market is much profitable for Georgian producers.
“Russia has fewer regulations and restrictions, simpler procedures, importers work on a prepayment basis so hitting the shelves takes much less time. Due to all these advantages, the Russian market is attractive for us," the director of the Efko company explains.
Still, Georgian companies don’t refuse to enter the European market, and Efko company again will try to enter it in 2021.
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