Bumper Crop, USAID Support Gives Exporter Entrée To U.K. Market
Dragi Stojmirovski has never seen so many watermelons—it has been a bumper year for the crop in the Balkans. Unfortunately, the resulting glut has led to plummeting melon prices and fruit lays rotting in their fields. But Stojmirovski, with the help of USAID, has turned a crisis into a triumph by introducing Macedonian watermelon to the United Kingdom.
USAID’s AgBiz program helped Stojmirovski’s company, Univerzal Promet, prepare and deliver a test shipment— each piece of fruit had to weigh between 4 – 4.5 kilos and be packed in cartons weighing no more than 25 kilos. USAID helped source the cartons and provided guidance on quality control procedures.
The U.K. importer not only approved the test shipment of watermelon, but has indicated interest in receiving test shipments of other fruit and vegetables, including peppers, eggplant, and apples.
Universal Promet has experience exporting to other Balkan countries, but had not yet broken into the lucrative European market. Expanding into new markets and increasing exports overall are among Macedonia’s highest economic priorities.
“This is a great opportunity,” says Stojmirovski. “At first I wasn’t sure if we could respond quickly to the customer’s specifications, especially the requirements for packaging. But USAID’s AgBiz Program was right there, and without them, I don’t think we would have been able to close this deal.”
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| Univerzal Promet leveraged a watermelon glut and specialized business assistance from USAID to break in to the U.K. market |
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