Armenian exports of dried fruits and vegetables, canned food and herbal teas totaled € 100 mln in the past four years, with the 20% contributed by the Ready to Trade project beneficiary companies. Notably, the year 2021 accounted for about 45% of the beneficiaries’ total exports in the reporting period, indicating the progressive growth of export volumes. The Ready to Trade project is being implemented by the International Trade Centre and supported by the European Union as part of the EU4Business initiative.
Two thirds of the companies that received support as part of this project reported an increase in exports in 2020-2021. 40% of them saw a rise in export volumes to the EU, specifically to Germany, France, Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, and the UK.
The exporters’ success was due to their hard work, all the way from learning the target market requirements, introducing food safety standards and certificates, ensuring competitiveness of the product quality, branding and packaging, to gaining the necessary networking skills. Participation in international trade shows was also key here. More than 16 local food processing companies participated in 5 leading international expos as part of the Ready to Trade project, among them Anuga 2021 – the biggest food fair in Europe since the pandemic hit the world. As a result, they established hundreds of partnerships and signed a number of export deals.
The compliance of local products with international food safety standards is essential for exports. Over 200 companies in Armenia have already introduced food safety management systems in line with the ISO 22000։2018 standard. The ISO 22000:2018 compliance certificate helps to identify the company as a reliable partner as early as the negotiations stage. Ten companies have introduced ISO 22000:2018 and HACCP systems as part of the Ready to Trade project.
Another key factor for successful exports is a winning marketing package to ensure competitiveness in international markets. This includes attractive branding and packaging, effective e-commerce tools, competitive websites, as well as marketing skills. As part of the project eight companies developed new branding, packaging and websites, all of which are important for establishing and maintaining partnerships.
Leading international experts were selected for each sector involved in the project. For three consecutive years they have been working with the project beneficiaries to improve their production and marketing capacity via online and offline consultations in Armenia and abroad. Their work resulted in the introduction of international standards in local companies’ production technologies as well as expanded product range.
20 enterprises in textile and fashion also improved their export capacities by participating in training sessions with leading experts.
As a result of the project, local SMEs improved their export potential and competitiveness while buyers in the international markets continued to discover Armenia through local products.