USAID Specialists Nurture Growth of Rural Businesses
Through USAID’s Rural Enterprise Competitiveness project, a team from the Azerbaijan Agribusiness Center (AAC) has worked to help a local fruit and vegetable processor become more modern and efficient, and to increase sales. The USAID project works to raise rural incomes and agricultural productivity through improving the competitiveness of the agriculture and agribusiness sectors in Azerbaijan.
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| With technical recommendations and assistance from the Azerbaijan Agribusiness Center (AAC) Company sold 120,000 jars of pickles for $82,379 |
AAC Account Manager Mobil Penjaliyev made recommendations for improved processing techniques and equipment, and has helped the client develop some new products. The processor took his advice, adding assorted pickles and pickled tomatoes to its line and hiring a new technologist. AAC Labeling Specialist Jeff Neville provided assistance with developing marketing and promotional materials, and a new label design.
The AAC also sent the processor’s director to Bulgaria on an agribusiness study tour with other Azerbaijani processing company representatives to learn pepper and potato processing techniques. In the coming season, the director plans to implement his newly-acquired knowledge by producing pickled peppers, potato starch, and potato flour. These additional offerings will give the client a more value-added product line, and set it apart from the large number of processors in the area devoted solely to pickling cucumbers and tomatoes in the old Soviet method.
The AAC team also worked with the client to find new buyers, prepare price lists and key documents, and negotiate purchasing agreements. These efforts paved the way for an agreement with BPP-M, a Georgian distributor, for 120,000 jars of pickles—a deal valued at $82,379.
In the coming months, the AAC team will continue to assist the client with technology, marketing and sales and provide staff training on international standards of hygiene and sanitation. They are currently helping the company management find equipment to process potatoes in the coming season.
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