Moldova’s Dried Fruits and Vegetable Sector Expands with the Help of a New Equipment Supplier

Moldova was once the main supplier of dried fruits and vegetables to the Soviet Union. Following its collapse and resulting economic decline, Moldova’s dried fruit and vegetable sector suffered dramatically. In recent years, the sector has been able to recover somewhat with production levels rising to roughly half of levels prior to 1991. As a result, employment and incomes in the sector have increased providing much needed relief to Moldova’s strained rural economy.

The key to Moldova's continued growth and recovery of the dried fruit and vegetable sector is its ability to adapt to the increasingly global marketplace and the potential for export of its goods to high value Western markets. However, most of the equipment used by the sector is out-dated Soviet machinery that fails to meet Western standards, thus, barring many of the companies from exporting to these markets. For Uniferax-Grup, Ltd., a local drying processor, a solution was found by developing new equipment on par with Western standards. Despite its success, this one-company approach failed to address the sector-wide problems of out-dated technology, thus, continuing sector-wide inefficiencies.

USAID Agribusiness Development Project (ADP), implemented by CNFA®saw the opportunity for Uniferax-Grup, Ltd. to take a new direction. If the company marketed its equipment, it could provide the means for many of Moldova’s dried fruit and vegetable producers to enter Western markets. To help Uniferax-Grup achieve this goal, ADP created business linkages between its clients and the company. Study tours were then organized to provide Moldovan producers the chance to see the equipment first hand.

As a result, eight Moldovan companies began to use Uniferax-Grup equipment, including five of ADP’s partners. With the new equipment, six of these companies are now exporting their goods to Western markets. With small but influential investments, this USAID initiative opened new markets for local Moldovan producers. In turn, the rural economy, which is heavily reliant on the agricultural sector, has benefited. The success of other industries in the agriculture sector will soon follow, as Uniferax-Grup is now planning to develop equipment solutions for packinghouse operations – another high priority in maximizing the export potential of Moldova’s agriculture sector. CNFA


Publication date: 21 August 2007   

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