FoodTechLink: Agriculture is business, and in business only figures matter

Kurkul: How does the PIB FoodTechLink Ukraine work in general?

Natalia Horbachenko: “FoodTechLink Ukraine” is a public-private partnership with the support of the Government of the Netherlands and Embassy the Netherlands in Ukraine. We represent more than 20 manufacturers of technologies and equipment for processing raw materials in the food industry and agriculture.

In addition to the commercial representation of companies, this project also has an educational purpose. For Ukrainian agricultural producers, we conduct educational trade missions to European countries and try to answer as many questions as possible from our Ukrainian partners. For example, the technology of cultivation, storage, processing or packaging. Especially now, when entering the export market of the European Union countries is a very relevant issue.

Kurkul.com: How do such educational missions work?

Natalia Horbachenko: Last February, we held an educational trade mission of Ukrainian businesses to the Netherlands. There were 4 groups of interest with 6-8 Ukrainian representatives in each group. Companies specializing in growing mushrooms, berries, and vegetables, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and sectoral organizations (in particular, the Food Export Board (UFEB)).

We met the group at the airport in Amsterdam. The participants only paid for their round-trip plane tickets, the organizers took care of everything else. The first two days were a general program on basic equipment for processing agricultural products.

For example, we studied industrial hygiene — it is needed in all areas, so all groups attended the seminars. And then we were divided into sectoral programs. One group traveled by small bus to Dutch mushroom farms, got acquainted with manufacturers of mycelium, equipment for the production and processing of mushrooms (preserving and freezing). The "berry" group saw how the Dutch produce blueberry planting material, how they process it. Ukrainian producers also visited a blueberry distribution center, which purchases, packs, sorts, sells this berry from all over the world in the Netherlands and sends it to export markets. Vegetable growers studied the experience of companies engaged in the production of borscht sets using cold storage technology.

Kurkul.com: How is such technology useful for Ukrainian farmers?

Natalia Gorbachenko: Cold storage technology involves storing vegetables in chambers with a regulated low temperature. Thanks to this, potatoes, carrots, and onions can last until the moment when their price increases and producers can sell them more profitably. This is business, and only numbers work in business.

Kurkul.com: What other technologies should Ukrainian fruit and vegetable producers apply?

Natalia Horbachenko: Vegetable processing deserves special attention - washing, peeling, blanching, cutting. Perhaps it is not so interesting for the Ukrainian market at the moment. However, if we talk about entering export markets, then peeling and vacuum-packed carrots is already a product with added value. This is not just an agricultural product that is sold at the lowest price in this chain.

For a farmer, this should be interesting. Many producers realize that added value is their additional income. Of course, this requires investment in equipment, training and much more. But recently, small producers have increasingly created cooperatives, so thanks to this they can purchase equipment for a certain group of companies and together make a usage schedule. For example, this is very typical for refrigeration or freezing equipment, because a blast freezing tunnel is usually not cheap equipment.

Kurkul.com: Within what limits do prices for processing equipment vary?

Nataliya Horbachenko: Everything is very individual, so it would probably still be incorrect to name a specific price. It depends on the volume of products and the need for cooling at the entrance to the freezing tunnel. For example, you collect berries from the fields in the summer. They have a certain temperature. If you immediately place them in the freezer at this temperature, they will lose a lot of moisture - up to 4%. If you pre-cool them to a certain temperature, the berry will lose 1% of moisture. That is, this is the weight of your berry at the exit, and accordingly - your money.

Agriculture is hard work, and I believe that it should be paid and bring a person a decent income. Unfortunately, by simply selling raw materials, producers do not receive the funds they deserve. Therefore, the future lies in added value and processing of agricultural products.

Kurkul.com: How can you help a manufacturer who has decided to start processing?

Natalia Horbachenko: The algorithm in this case is simple: farmers provide us with a request, we pass it on to the manufacturer. If the customer needs any further clarifications, perhaps a sample of packaging, then we try to get it. It takes a week or two to prepare a commercial offer. It is very fast. First of all, we take into account the capacity, the product itself, the desired type of packaging. Based on this, the customer will receive an offer for the formation of a full or incomplete line.

So, if a person contacts FoodTechLink with a specific request, and the equipment manufacturer has an official distributor in Ukraine, we immediately forward this contact to the distributor. This distributor provides full project support: first, they discuss the details, then coordinate logistics with managers and engineers, and finally, the Ukrainian manufacturer receives the necessary equipment.

Manufacturers are also given the opportunity to visit the production site directly in the Netherlands and see the equipment before purchasing it. This is a good practice, as the investment in equipment is large.

If the company does not have a representative in Ukraine, then we provide full project support, but in any case the client concludes all contracts directly with the Dutch manufacturer. That is, there are no intermediate links - this is direct work. For such representative work, we receive funds from the Dutch government, that is, the Ukrainian manufacturer does not pay anything extra for it.

Kurkul.com: What are UA farmers most interested in in the processing industry right now?

Natalia Horbachenko: We will probably give the first place to freezing. Most often, requests for freezing equipment are formed by berry growers. Berries are a very hot topic in Ukrainian agriculture. The number of plantations is growing rapidly, especially blueberries (the berry is expensive and profitable to grow). And although this requires significant investments, and the first few years blueberries do not yield a large harvest, producers can sell them much more expensively than other berries. Therefore, most often we are approached by blueberry, strawberry, raspberry producers who are looking for equipment for freezing their products.

Vegetable producers also often make the same requests - freezing equipment. It seemed that canning could also be in demand for vegetables. However, there is now a global trend towards healthy eating, so frozen products are considered healthier than canned. Canning is a heat treatment, a long process, because after canning, the products also need to be pasteurized in autoclaves. Therefore, there is an opinion that canned products contain fewer vitamins. Therefore, frozen products are in greater demand than canned products.

To preserve a large amount of nutrients and vitamins, manufacturers also use shock freezing - very fast, sharp freezing of vegetables and fruits. For example: in the Poltava region there is a company "Poltava-Sad", which has been engaged in plant growing since 2011. Now the main product of production is carrots. It was in this farm that the famous Ukrainian brand "Morkishka" was created, which offers snacks... from baby carrots to processed and packaged using Dutch equipment.

But mushrooms in Ukraine are still traditionally preserved. That is why our company has examples of supplying lines for preserving mushrooms to Ukraine. We had a large “mushroom” project - producers from Zaporizhia region ordered a line from washing, blanching to the finished product in a jar with a label.

Kurkul.com: What other solutions for processing agricultural products could be useful to Ukrainian farmers?

Nataliya Gorbachenko: Traditional canning is already undergoing changes. So now they use a more modern type of lid - the twist-off type. We have partners who can deliver equipment for canning with these lids with a fairly large production capacity of 100 cans/min.

However, we had a request for canning 500 kg of mushrooms per day, so we would advise such a producer to do these operations manually. Installing equipment for twist-off lids would simply be unprofitable: it would be idle, and the producer would not have enough raw materials to use this equipment.

But, in principle, some things should be done automatically. There are great solutions for Ukrainian small businesses. For example, one of the Dutch companies offers an interesting disposable packaging that will allow anyone to easily open it. Because twist-off lids very often get stuck, and a child or an elderly person cannot open it on their own. And in disposable packaging, everything is glued, it opens very quickly. The equipment for such packaging is a semi-automatic, small (the size of a juicer) machine. A cup is placed in it. Any liquid, pasty, dry, loose product is poured or poured into this container and then it is automatically sealed.

Kurkul.com: And how often do Ukrainian farmers contact you?

Natalia Gorbachenko: We receive applications very often, especially when we organize collective Dutch pavilions at industry exhibitions. This is where we have the opportunity to meet many agricultural producers, because they come to such exhibitions to see and learn something new. At least for each exhibition we have 10-15 requests for freezing equipment, up to 5 requests for preservation equipment, etc.

And at such events, good friends, participants of educational trips, always come up to us to say hello and talk. We are very friendly, communicate, maintain contacts on Viber and Facebook. We all share news and interesting announcements with each other. Our cooperation with Ukrainian farmers is a long-term relationship.

Because for us, it’s not just about selling equipment. We are rooting for our own country, for its agriculture, and we really want a promising direction of agricultural product processing to work here at a high level.

Kurkul.com: You talked a lot about the possibilities of processing hori products. And do equipment suppliers offer anything for livestock farming?

Natalia Horbachenko: We also have something to offer Ukrainian livestock farmers. We have partners who can help to completely build, for example, a dairy and meat farm on a turnkey basis. That is, to implement the project, starting from the purchase of high-quality genetic material and ending with the construction of the building itself.

We are also working with another Dutch project that deals with approximately the same, but only in the field of dairy production - the Dutch-Ukrainian Dairy Center (DUDC). This is a three-year project of the Government of the Netherlands, aimed at improving the quality and quantity of milk produced in Ukraine, and also aimed at completing the institutional reform of the industry.

Among the partners of FoodTechLink is the Dutch company Lekkerkerker. It specializes in equipment for dairy production and processing of milk itself, in particular for the production of yogurts, cheeses, butter and their subsequent packaging. It is interesting for Ukrainian small businesses, primarily due to the restored used equipment from good European manufacturers and a good pricing policy.

Kurkul.com: So this company supplies equipment that has already been in use?

Nataliya Horbachenko: At first glance, it seems that used & restored equipment is supplied only to Eastern European countries. This is not correct, because even Germany can buy such equipment. Used is not necessarily bad.

For example, Lekkerkerker is a family company, founded by its father, now it is managed by its son. They started as dairy producers. But there was no money to invest in new equipment and a building, so they started restoring used equipment on their own. And then they realized that this business was even more interesting. So now they have one of their three factories left - one for the production of cream cheese. And now Lekkerkerker is more engaged in restoring equipment, assembling complete lines. It can be for anything: dairy production, processing vegetables into puree, tomato paste. And they can even offer vacuum boilers for cooking.

If, for example, a factory closes, they simply buy its equipment, restore it and then, as a designer, assemble everything into a new line.

When we were in the workshops of this company, we saw with our own eyes the shipment of restored equipment to Denmark. The Dutch simply changed the electronics, painted it, replaced some parts.

Kurkul.com: So, Dutch companies can supply both new and restored equipment to Ukraine?

Natalia Gorbachenko: Yes, our partners can offer processing lines that can be designed from both new equipment and used, restored equipment.

In this case, the combination will be specified by the manufacturer's requirements. They will advise you on equipment specifically for your capacity. If, for example, you will process a certain number of tons of mushrooms per shift, then they will tell you at what stage this should be an automatic or semi-automatic process. Because usually automated equipment is expensive, so in the event of its downtime it will be unprofitable.

So, with small processing volumes and production capacity (for example, 1 ton of mushrooms per day), our equipment manufacturer will most likely advise making some elements manually, but automatically preserving and pasteurizing in an autoclave.

But from manual to automatic equipment you need to grow gradually. So as not to invest a lot of money in equipment that you simply do not need yet.

Kurkul.com: And what equipment can they offer for meat processing?

Nataliya Gorbachenko: These can be slaughterhouses for red meat (veal and pork). Slaughterhouses are the highest quality flat pouring floors that have been in service for 20 or more years. Such floor strength is important especially for meat production: large metal hooks can fall on the floor there and it is necessary to avoid damaging the floor. And a perfectly flat floor is needed so that there are no puddles in the workshop and, accordingly, bacteria in them. In addition, it is convenient for workers in the workshops.

Kurkul.com: Are Ukrainian farmers ready for Dutch technologies?

Natalia Horbachenko: I am proud of many people we met during the implementation of the FoodTechLink project. For example, during a trip with our farmers on a trade educational mission to the Netherlands, it felt like you were going on an excursion with your class at school. These are both jokes, and such a direct and sincere atmosphere! And you really root for people who want to do something here, in the Motherland. They want to work on our land despite all the difficulties and obstacles. This arouses great respect and makes you want to help them, show them something useful. After returning from the Netherlands, they visit each other, plant asparagus - this is a completely new crop for our region. In such cases, we try to suggest, inform, where to get seedlings, etc. And farmers cooperate, work, and come to us as if they were family, helping each other, giving each other advice.

And this is the right approach. When we started working with Dutch companies, I was very surprised by the striking difference between our companies and the Dutch ones. Dutch colleagues are very open about sharing their experiences. They say that a Dutchman can see a Dutchman from afar. They will get to know each other on the plane, during the two-hour flight they will discuss everything they do... And five years later, one of them may remember that he has this person's business card somewhere and he can ask for advice or help.

Likewise, if one Dutch manufacturer cannot meet a customer's needs, they will definitely refer them to another manufacturer without any hesitation. They work very well together in this regard.

And this was not the case in Ukraine literally five years ago. Everyone was very afraid, all businesses were closed, and now Ukrainian farmers are really starting to cooperate, cooperatives are uniting. And this is an important step to success. Because a Dutchman can come and tell many beautiful things about agricultural production in his country, about how it works well in their conditions, about comprehensive state support. And when our farmers implement new technologies, adapt them to themselves and share their experience with each other, it will be much more useful than that theoretical story of a farmer, an expert from the Netherlands. And they trust each other more.

Kurkul.com: Are there any farms that, in practice, have reached a new level of production and profits thanks to Dutch technologies?

Natalia Horbachenko: There is a very good greenhouse farm in the Lviv region, Galicia Greenery. It is probably the standard of Dutch technologies in Ukraine.

At the same time, there are a lot of Dutch farmers who live here, marry Ukrainian women and run farms here, because there is not enough land in the Netherlands for everyone. An interesting farm in this regard is the Kyshchentsi LLC in the Mankivskyi district of the Cherkasy region. Its manager is the Dutchman Kees (Cornelis) Huizinga, who has been developing the dairy business in Ukraine for over 17 years. It is on the basis of this enterprise that the Dutch Milk Day is very often held. And this is not the only example of the successful work of Dutch farmers in our country, who live here, rent and cultivate the land, grow, work, and provide jobs, which is also important.

Kurkul.com: Thank you very much for the conversation!

© Katya Kapustina, Kurkul.com, 2018