More than EUR 1 million: how BIOFACH facilitated conclusion of contracts to supply to Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic

Alta Kraina began its journey in 2008 as an importer of raw materials for the food industry. Today, in addition to imports, the company exports ingredients for the food industry to Eastern Europe and has recently established contacts with Asia and North America.

The company supplies a wide range of organic fruit purees, concentrated juices, freeze-dried and IQF berries to Poland, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Armenia. Thanks to constant quality control and production audits, all shipped products comply with approved samples and customer specifications.

"We have a small office and a staff of up to 10 people, but this does not prevent us from doing a very large amount of work. We don't just sell a high-quality organic Ukrainian product, we offer a service, and we declare ourselves as a reliable supplier of high-quality raw materials. Last year, our turnover reached USD 8,000,000, and we hope that this year it will be even higher," says Alla Ponomarenko, Managing Director of Alta Kraina (Catanzaro Eurasia LLC).

The results obtained by the company after participating in BIOFACH as part of the National Pavilion of Ukraine

Alta Kraina has been participating in the international trade fair of organic products BIOFACH for seven consecutive years, and in 2023 and 2024 it was represented at the National Pavilion of Ukraine.

The company representative noted that two years ago the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant panic which led to an increase in electricity prices in most European countries. This was reflected in food prices and caused a decline on the organic market. However, the situation stabilised last year, and the company’s participation in BIOFACH 2023 was successful, even in the context of the pandemic and the full-scale war in Ukraine.

The team observed how European partners reacted to organic products, how interested they were, how the mood changed, etc. With this in mind, 2023 was an important year in understanding what the company should prepare for.

“At BIOFACH 2023, we felt a great interest from foreign partners in our Ukrainian products. We should certainly thank the organisers for this, because thanks to their support, strong marketing communication and effective promotional campaign that we were able to show once again that Ukrainian organic products are a worthy player and ambitious competitor on the EU market. People who are used to buying Ukrainian products look for our branded stands with Ukrainian flags and the Trade with Ukraine sign in advance," said Alla Ponomarenko.

As a result of BIOFACH 2023, the producer signed contracts for the export of frozen raspberries to Germany worth EUR 450,000; raspberries, strawberries and apple concentrate to Italy for a total of EUR 600,000; and a contract for the supply of frozen berries to the Czech Republic worth EUR 130,000.

"Three aspects are key for us at BIOFACH: product presentation, effective communication, and establishing partnerships. We arrange meetings with existing and potential partners in advance. During the communication, we always take notes for ourselves: the name of the exhibition, conclusions after the meeting, and plans for the future. In this way, we can always recall and analyse who attended, what kind of request they made, what the customers were interested in, and what we need to pay attention to. New contacts are always entered into the CRM database in order to establish the warmest contacts with new and potential customers," said Alta Kraina’s Managing Director.

During its participation in BIOFACH 2024, the producer received 76 relevant contacts, with ten of which it is currently negotiating contracts. So far, the company has already signed two new contracts.

According to the Managing Director, the company’s representatives had many substantive and productive meetings, not only about organics, but also about all their products. The audience was serious and interested in Ukrainian organic producers.

"Regardless of the market activity, if you are an organic producer, you 100% need to be there. It doesn't matter if you are a visitor, an exporter or in any other role, as it is a platform where everyone comes together: organic producers, traders, buyers, non-governmental or public organisations who interact with each other in one way or another at BIOFACH," said Alla Ponomarenko.

BIOFACH is an image-building international trade fair of organic products, which undoubtedly improves the company’s reputation and creates a positive image to increase the number of customers and brand loyalty. In addition, it helps to get acquainted with the product trends and analyse the interest of the audience, which will determine the market in the coming years.

The Managing Director of Alta Kraina said that the trade fair is well organised: friendly, comfortable, convenient and clear in the German way. This is one of their favourite events, as all the urgent issues are solved promptly and there have never been any problems with the stand, parking, or logistics.

National Pavilion of Ukraine at BIOFACH 2023

The National Pavilion of Ukraine at BIOFACH 2023 was organized by the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office and national project Diia.Business in partnership with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Organic Ukraine NGO, Ukrainian Berries Association, and Organic Initiative.

Supported by:

• The European Union and German Government within the “EU4Business: SME Competitiveness and Internationalisation” programme implemented by the German federal company Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH;
• EBRD and funded by Switzerland through the EBRD's Small Business Impact Fund (donors to the SBIF are Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA, Taiwan Business - EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and Norway);
• Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian Programs “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP) and “Organic Trade for Development in Eastern Europe” (OT4D);
• The project “German-Ukrainian Cooperation in Organic Agriculture” (COA) that is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

National Pavilion of Ukraine at BIOFACH 2024

National Pavilion of Ukraine at BIOFACH 2024 is organised by the State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office” (Ukraine), the state project Diia.Business, under the patronage of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, in partnership with Organic Ukraine NGO and Organic Initiative Public Association, supported by Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian Program “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP), implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG; EBRD and funded by Switzerland through the EBRD’s Small Business Impact Fund (donors to the SBIF are Italy, Ireland, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, US, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan and Taiwan Business – EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund); and Western NIS Enterprise Fund.