Agro-Business Center Helps Beverage Producer Boost Sales
A local beverage producer which had achieved limited success across Azerbaijan turned to the USAID-funded Azerbaijan Agro-Business Center (AAC) for help in penetrating Ganja, the second largest market in the country.
Since accepting the company as a client last January, AAC Account Manager Shalala Kamilova has been working to identify and resolve issues which have posed barriers to market expansion.
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| The Azerbaijan Agro-business Center (AAC) helped this local beverage producer increase sales by improving the quality of its product and finding new wholesalers |
Production quality was among the first and most important issues identified. Buyers had decreased or stopped orders because of the poor quality of the company’s lemonade, which had a damaging effect on the sales of its other beverages as well. The company explained that it had been unsuccessful in securing a single, stable supplier of ingredients and had been forced to purchase ingredients from different suppliers with varying degrees of quality to meet demand. The lack of a high-quality, reliable ingredient supplier was exacerbated by the company’s improper use of technology and recipes during the production process.
In order to help her client, Kamilova enlisted the help of fellow AAC specialist Miri Mirzoyev, who prepared recipes and specific instructions for improving lemonade production. They also put company in contact with suppliers who could provide the necessary high-quality ingredients on a consistent, long-term basis.
As a result of the AAC’s assistance, the beverage producer improved the quality of its lemonade product and signed a deal valued at $180,000 to produce 300,000 bottles of lemonade. In addition, Kamilova linked her client with two wholesale centers in Ganja, who have already purchased more than $13,000 in product, effectively opening the door to the Ganja market.
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