UBA News Hits: 316

Business trip to the Netherlands: Ukrainian organic fruit and berry processors visited leading industry enterprises

UBA News Hits: 316
Business trip to the Netherlands: Ukrainian organic fruit and berry processors visited leading industry enterprises
UBA News Hits: 316

In 4 days the participants exchanged experience, established partnerships, and learned about leading industry achievements.

From May 20 to 23, 2025, a business mission to the Kingdom of the Netherlands was held, that was organized by the Ukrainian Berries Association (UBA) with the participation of Ukrainian exporters of organic berry products like small and medium enterprises and business support organizations (BSO).

The purpose of the trip was to establish partnerships with European companies, study the requirements for exporters of organic products, and search for a new opportunities to enter the EU market with high-quality Ukrainian organic berry products.

📆 Day 1 (May 20): Introduction to European technologies and cooperation

On the first day participants visited a number of leading international companies and organizations in the field of growing and distributing fruit and berry products, including:

Origin & Amsterdam — a company that specializes in the distribution of frozen berries. Participants from Ukraine presented their own products and learned more about export requirements: the availability of BRC, FSSC 22000 or ISO 22000 certifications, compliance with food safety standards and full product traceability.

BioNext — a Dutch industry organization that unites farmers, processors, traders and specialty stores. Its activities are aimed at the sustainable development of organic agriculture. The participants discussed:

  • • EU legislation of organic production;
  • • rules for the organic market;
  • • the importance of cooperation for entering foreign markets;
  • • prospects for Ukrainian-Dutch cooperation.

Fresh Forward — a company that is engaged in the breeding and commercialization of new strawberry and apple varieties.

The guests learned the technologies of greenhouse strawberry cultivation and directly in the greenhouses, processes of breeding and selection of varieties and requirements for the quality of berry products.

📆 Day 2 (May 21): PLMA 2025 Exhibition

The delegation visited the international exhibition PLMA 2025 in Amsterdam that is one of the largest in the private label area.

Participants as visitors had the opportunity to:

  • learn the nearest European trends in packaging and labeling of organic products;
  • visit the stands of organic products companies;

And met the real potential buyers, presented them their own products, and discussed formats for further cooperation.

📆 Day 3 (May 22): Processing, Ingredients and Global Purchases

Ukrainian processors continued learn leading European industry companies, and visited:

BidFood — one of the largest food distributors in the Netherlands;

Helsu Foods —natural ingredients manufacturer;

Tradin Organic— global player in the organic ingredients market.

🔹 All 10 companies that are the members of the Ukrainian Berry Association presented their products, export potential and existing certifications.

🔹 As a result, preliminary agreements on the supply of frozen and processed organic berries to the EU were reached

📆 Day 4 (May 23): Deep processing and retail requirements

A visit to the Netra Agro, SVZ та Döhler group of companies that specialize in deep processing of berries (concentrates, purees, ingredients for the food industry), was also productive. The participants learned about the raw requirements, the processes of food control and the possibilities of cooperation.

And the final step was a visit to the  Albert Heijn store in Rotterdam which is the leader of the retail market. Ukrainian entrepreneurs learned main aspects regarding:

  • Placement of the organic products on supermarket shelves
  • packaging, certification and labeling requirements;
  • approaches to positioning private label brands;
  • European consumer expectations regarding quality and stability of supply.

Results

The business mission to the Netherlands became an important platform for strengthening the export potential for Ukrainian organic berry field. During the four-day program, participants:

  • learned the real requirements of European partners;
  • established direct business contacts with processors, distributors and retailers;
  • presented their own products and reached agreements on further cooperation;
  • studied the best European practices in selection, processing, logistics and sales of organic products.

"As one of the leading enterprises in the field of freezing and storing fruit and vegetable products, we are constantly developing and aim to be in touch with the most modern technologies. Therefore, visits to European colleagues were especially useful: both as gaining and transferring experience. It was nice to male sure again that our Ukrainian production are not inferior to European ones. We can be competitive! We are very grateful to the UBA and international partners for the opportunity to become a participant in such a useful event. We will definitely join again!" – Vasyl Luklyan, Head of “Laki-2017” LLC.

“Export, processing, and packaging requirements constantly changes, so it is very important to stay up to date with them. During the business tour, we had the opportunity to know the latest lows in this area, the news about certification and labeling directly from potential buyers. This significantly increases the effectiveness of cooperation. Our partners UBA and everyone who supported this mission make a very important job."- Volodymyr Sopronyuk, Head of “Sav Agro Partner” LLC.

"It is difficult for small and medium farmers in Ukraine to survive on their own, especially during the war. That is why our Association, which unites producers and processors of fruit and berry products, strive to support this one of the most important, but also the most vulnerable field. We actively cooperate with international partners, tell them about the importance of supporting our farmers. After all, everyone is well aware that our farmers determine the food safety not only of Ukraine, but also of whole the world. And we are grateful to our partners for their active involvement, and for giving us the opportunity to organize such events."- Iryna Kukhtina, President of UBA.

The business tour is organised by the Ukrainian Berries Association, the State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office” (EEPO, Ukraine), and the Organic Initiative Public Union with the support of Switzerland within the framework of three programmes: