Premium-grade foods coming to Ukraine

Healthy soils on which grow healthy plants that are used as fodder for healthy cattle - this is not a fairytale but a pattern for the production of organic foods. The rejection of pesticides, nitrates, growth stimulants, and other agents that are harmful to humans is the main advantage of organic farming. Today, vegetables, buckwheat, peeled barley, wheat, and pearl barley are grown naturally. Organic dairy and meat products are in the offing. For the time being, it is unrealistic to feed cattle only with biological products and treat their diseases without the use of antibiotics, but this is the general goal.

Maksym Savenko, the representative of Krupiany Dim, Ltd., whose farms specialize in organic products, says: “Organic or biological foods will hit the shelves of Kyiv stores by the end of December. I can’t tell you the names of the stores yet because we are still negotiating with the city’s retail chains. If consumers in the capital show an interest in products without harmful additives, these products will be supplied to other Ukrainian cities. Right now the residents of Kyiv are our main orientation because it is easier to monitor the market in a large city. The last market study showed that 40 percent of Ukrainians are interested in organic products, but consumers have to be taught how to distinguish organic products from ordinary ones. This is easy because each organic product has a label that says “Biolan Ukraine Association,” which is a guarantee of a quality certified product.”

Price is the only factor that may discourage consumers from organic foods. A kilo of organic buckwheat will cost 15 hryvnias (ordinary buckwheat costs 7.50). But organic products also taste better. According to Tetiana Herman, the PR representative of an association that grows biologically pure products, organic foods contain more vitamin C and minerals, like calcium, magnesium, iron, and chromium. The Organic Standard, which was drafted by the association’s experts, states that only 32 of 290 food additives are allowed in biological products. Only the safest preservatives, acids, and other additives that are crucial to production are used. This standard prohibits the application of any genetically modified organisms, pesticides, and other chemicals to crops.

Volodymyr Semenovych, head of Derzhspozhyvstandart’s product-testing research center, is convinced that “the market presence of organic products will make it possible to discontinue supplies from other countries that often offer Ukraine low-quality products. For example, this year, when Derzhspozhyvstandart was certifying shipments of grapes from Turkey, Greece, and Italy, it found levels of phosphorus pesticides. Imported black and white pepper, marjoram, sesame, and dill - spices and herbs used in meat products - often fail to meet Ukrainian standards and can infect people with e-coli.”

Experts believe that the introduction of organic agriculture is an excellent opportunity to abandon mineral fertilizers, particularly pesticides that help crops grow easily and quickly. With its black topsoil Ukraine can easily afford to grow organic crops, although 41 percent of these soils have lost their original qualities, so producers have to look for others that best meet the Organic Standard requirements. Although organic foods are only starting to appear in the Ukrainian consumer market, experts hope that these premium foods, as they are known in EU countries, will be popular with domestic consumers who care about their health.