“Open the seal of taste”- promotional program for traditional Bulgarian products

11.01.2012

“Open the seal of taste”- promotional program for traditional Bulgarian products

Traditional Bulgarian products – the chutney, the roasted peeled pepper, the rose jam, the rosehip marmalade and the peach compote will be promoted on the foreign market. Thanks to the promotional program “Open the seal of taste”, financed with EU funds, these products will be advertised. The program cost is around 3 million euro for 3 year duration. Half of the budget is financed by EU, 30% are financed by the State Fund Agriculture and 20% are provided by the beneficiary. In Bulgaria the project is executed by the Union of the processors of fruits and vegetables. Members of the Union are companies producing canned and dried fruits and vegetables, several schools and the two leading Bulgarian institutes in the food and flavor industry. “Open the seal of taste” targets the internal markets of Germany, Poland and Romania. “We have chosen these countries as they are relatively familiar with these products. In the recent past they used to be big markets for our production, but lately, due to different reasons, the commercial relations have decreased.” explained for Radio Bulgaria eng. Antoaneta Bozhinova, Executive Director of the Union of the processors of fruits and vegetables. The traditional Bulgarian products will be promoted with television spots, outdoor advertising and advertisements in busses part of the public transport in the cities of Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Warsaw and Bucharest. Special brochures will acquaint the consumers with the qualities of the chutney and the rest of the products. Degustations will be organized in big market chains, restaurants and culinary schools.

“Planned are also visits to the manufacturing places in Bulgaria for groups of merchants from the targeted countries – explained eng. Bozhinova – Our main goal is to show them that our cans are produced from natural materials in modern, well equipped enterprises in compliance with all conditions for food safety. And, last but not least, that they are of very high quality. We have also foreseen activities which are referred to the younger generation. Demonstrations of different meal preparations using these products will be held in the culinary schools, where we can win future consumers. The chutney is a product that can be consumed without any preparation. The rose jam and the rosehip marmalade are worthy enough to be presented to the European consumer. They will be promoted not only as unique Bulgarian products, but also as foods high in vitamins and minerals that support proper functioning of the body. “

The Bulgarian manufacturers guarantee the quality of their products. Recently the Union of processors of fruits and vegetables adopted industry standard for the chutney. The goal is to preserve the traditional taste of the product. “The new standard exclude the use of artificial colors, preservatives and enhancers.” Explains eng. Bozhinova. Another requirement is at least 60% of the products used to be tomato and pepper paste and also the use of sunflower oil. The microbiological indicators we have adopted guarantee the absolute safety of the producing according to the new chutney standard”, added eng. Bozhinova.

Which other markets are targets for the Bulgarian producers of processed fruits and vegetables and how much did the World financial crisis affect them?

“We are expanding the markets in which we manage to trade off our production – says eng. Bozhinova – The main European market for us is Germany. From the countries outside Europe, a very good market is the United States. It appears that our products are well accepted and purchased in Australia. We are very anxious to be part again of a very big market such as Russia. Moreover the Bulgarian products are well known there. Even now the export is in very good parameters. Traditionally the canning industry is geared towards exports. Over 60% of the products produced are destined to foreign markets.”

Source: Radio Bulgaria,
Author: Rumiana Tsvetkova
28.11.2011