Ukrainian Berries Association has Developed a Strategy of Development for 2026–2029

 The Ukrainian Berries Association has developed its Development Strategy for 2026–2029 — a document that sets out the organisation’s long-term development priorities, its role in advancing Ukraine’s berry sector, strategic objectives, areas of activity and an implementation roadmap. The Strategy will serve as the basis for annual planning, budgeting, resource mobilisation, partnership development and results monitoring.

Ukraine’s berry sector is entering a new stage of development. Following a period of rapid growth in production and exports, the industry is now facing new challenges: maintaining its international position, improving product quality, strengthening analytical capacity, enhancing the competitiveness of businesses, diversifying markets and building a stronger global reputation for Ukrainian berries.

Why a New Strategy Is Needed

In recent years, the Association has actively supported export development, the international promotion of Ukrainian companies, participation in trade fairs, business missions and professional events. This focus has delivered results: Ukrainian companies have strengthened their presence in international markets, while the country’s berry sector has become more visible to international partners.

At the same time, the industry context has changed. Growth alone is no longer enough. To continue developing, Ukrainian companies need not only to enter new markets but also to maintain their positions, meet increasingly demanding requirements for quality, safety, traceability and sustainable production, adapt to regulatory changes and operate in a more competitive environment.

This is why the new Strategy focuses not only on individual activities but on the systemic development of the sector and the institutional strengthening of the Association itself.

What Has Changed

The 2026–2029 Strategy does not mean abandoning previous priorities. The core areas remain relevant: exports, representation of industry interests, information support, improving the performance of members and human capital development.

However, the context in which the sector operates has changed, and therefore the priorities and content of these areas have evolved.

During the new strategic period, the Association is shifting:

• from increasing exports to strengthening the international position of Ukraine’s berry sector;
• from advocating for individual interests to increasing the Association’s influence on the development of the sector;
• from providing information support to building a systematic analytical function;
• from improving the performance of individual companies to strengthening the competitiveness of Association members;
• from training personnel to developing the human capital of the berry sector.

This reflects the key challenge of the coming period: moving from rapid growth towards sustainable competitiveness.

Mission and Vision

The Association’s mission is to unite stakeholders in Ukraine’s berry industry around common interests in order to strengthen its competitiveness, develop the domestic market and reinforce Ukraine’s position as one of the global leaders in the berry sector.

The vision of the Strategy is simple and ambitious:

Berries from Ukraine — on shelves and in food products around the world.

Three Strategic Objectives

The Strategy is built around three interconnected objectives.

1. Increase the resilience and competitiveness of Association members

The Association aims to ensure that its members gain practical value from participation through access to analytics, expertise, new practices, standards, partnerships and development opportunities.

By 2029, at least 70% of members are expected to participate annually in the Association’s events, services or joint initiatives, while at least 50 members are expected to introduce new practices, standards or solutions with the Association’s support.

2. Strengthen the influence and role of the Association in the development of Ukraine’s berry sector

The Association aims to become an even stronger platform for industry consolidation, developing common positions, engaging in dialogue with public authorities and promoting solutions that are important for the sector’s development.

The key targets include:

• increasing membership to 200 members;
• achieving an annual turnover from all funding sources of at least UAH 15 million;
• ensuring that at least 20 sector development decisions are adopted with consideration of the Association’s proposals.

3. Strengthen the international position of Ukraine’s berry sector

This is about more than participation in international trade fairs. It involves systematic work to build Ukraine’s reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality, safe and competitive berry products.

By 2029, the Association plans to establish at least 20 international partnerships or joint initiatives and involve at least 100 companies in international events, programmes or business missions.

Five Areas of Activity

To achieve its strategic objectives, five key areas of activity have been identified:

1. Analytical and information support for sector development;
2. Strengthening the international position of Ukraine’s berry sector;
3. Increasing the Association’s influence on the development of the berry sector;
4. Enhancing the competitiveness of Association members;
5. Developing the human capital of the berry sector.

Institutional development of the Association is a cross-cutting condition for the implementation of the Strategy. This includes expanding the membership base, ensuring financial sustainability, strengthening the team and partnerships, and enhancing digital capacity.

Analytics as a New Centre of Focus

One of the key priorities of the Strategy is the development of analytical and information support for the sector.

In a period of instability, changing market conditions, fluctuating demand, increasingly stringent regulatory requirements and stronger competition, businesses need more than news — they need high-quality analysis to support informed decision-making.

The Association plans to develop regular digests, analytical reports, monitoring of Ukrainian and EU legislation, price monitoring, a methodology for collecting market statistics and digital tools for working with data.

From Rapid Growth to Sustainable Competitiveness

Ukraine has already secured a notable position in the European berry market, particularly in the frozen products segment. However, a significant part of its international competitiveness still depends on price.

For the next stage of development, this will not be sufficient.

The Strategy is based on the understanding that the sector’s long-term success cannot be achieved through individual activities alone. It requires a combination of institutional capacity, systematic areas of work and measurable changes for Association members, the organisation itself and Ukraine’s international positioning.

The Association’s task is to help the sector move from rapid growth towards a more sustainable, professional and competitive development model.

Next Steps

The Strategy will serve as the basis for annual activity planning, budgeting, service development, partnership building and results monitoring.

The Ukrainian Berries Association invites its members and partners to contribute to the implementation of the Strategy.

Together, we are building a stronger, more professional and more recognisable Ukrainian berry sector.

The presentation of the Strategy in PDF format is available via the link.

This Strategy was developed by the Ukrainian Berries Association in cooperation with the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO), implemented by the Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation (Swisscontact).

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