GENEVA, Switzerland, (ITC News) – EU-EAC MARKUP II brought Tanzanian spice producers to the Food Ingredients (Fi) Exhibition 2024 in Frankfurt.
Rewarding experience
“It did make a big difference, massive difference. Certain clients, who we had spoken to were reluctant to do business with us until they met us here at Fi. They saw our standards and now we have a couple of contracts in the pipeline,” Georgie Ferreira from Viridium Tanzania describes the benefits of being at Fi.
“It’s great to be here because it helps us generate new leads, reaching specific customers and growing our portfolio of potential customers,” says Leon Jamann, from 1001 Organics, a spice company based in Zanzibar.
Along with four other spice-producing companies, Leon and Georgie flew to Frankfurt to display their company’s products at the Fi Exhibition and engaged in fruitful B2B marketing experience.
“We are exposed to the latest requirements of the European spice market, the customers, competitors and new business opportunities here. Meeting new and old customers builds trust,” highlights Akley Mbaye from SAT Holistic Group Ltd., Tanzania.
Viridium Tanzania Ltd, Trianon Spices, 1001 Organics, Simba Vanilla and JJ Growers brought spices from Tanzania, including cardamom, vanilla, black pepper and cinnamon, to the fair.
Unfamiliar with Tanzania-origin spices, buyers were curious and enthusiastic about the displayed products from the country.
Being at Fi Exhibition is also an opportunity for Joyce Kamugisha from JJ Growers in many ways.
“I am an impact entrepreneur. We work with spice and cashew nut farmers, and we would like to expand our market in Europe so that we can deliver bigger orders and expand our support to farmers by contributing to an increase in their income,” Joyce explains.
Preparing for the fair
The companies were well-prepared for participating in one of the major food fairs in Europe.
The Food Ingredient Exhibition has been uniting the world’s leading food and beverage suppliers, buyers, R&D experts and production specialists for over 30 years.
Leon found the support from the European Union (EU) East African Community (EAC) Market Access Upgrade Program (MARKUP II) second phase particularly crucial.
“MARKUP II has been helping us prepare for the participation, by supporting us in developing a clear strategy to make the best of this fair, providing training, helping us organize, and in developing templates.”
Carryover
Georgie remembers and acknowledges the support from the first phase of MARKUP programme as being instrumental in enabling them to expand to the European market.
Akley highlights that the support from MARKUP in the second phase of the program is adding to their gains made in the first phase.
“Participation in Biofach 2019 with support from the first phase of European Union (EU) – East African Community (EAC) Market Access Upgrade Program (MARKUP) won them customers in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France and Denmark.
“Now in the second phase the EU-EAC MARKUP II project is building our knowledge of marketing and market linkages by providing us with advanced knowledge about existing trends in the European market,” he adds.
New connections with new customers
“We have found great leads here, from Germany, Spain and Eastern Europe. Those are markets that are not our traditional markets. And so, the fair has helped us expand our horizons,” Leon said.
And Akley mentioned the reason for his excitement.
“We have surely connected with new buyers in the European market. I made 8-10 new contacts that are potential customers.”
Action-packed participation
Spices from Tanzania, contributed to a vibrant and diverse display of food ingredient products with the support of European Union (EU) funded project EU-EAC MARKUP II.
