As a follow-up to the inception phase, ProFound has been actively involved in the implementation of Swisscontact-PPSE‘s interventions for Kosovo’s food processing sector in 2015.
At Anuga (Cologne, Germany), ProFound provided support to 12 Kosovar companies dealing with a wide range of products, from smoothies and energy drinks to preserved vegetables and mushrooms. ProFound’s role at Anuga went beyond creating business linkages, also including capacity-building aspects to the exhibiting companies.
Food Ingredients Europe (Paris, France) was directly aimed at the non-wood forest product sub-sector, and served as a solid basis to define the strengths and needs of Kosovo’s companies. At this event, ProFound supported the companies with its network of buyers and partners, thus creating concrete business leads and supporting the sustainable growth of the sub-sector.
These market entry experiences have provided the PPSE programme and companies with a lot of “food for thought”, and have been essential in revealing the trends and requirements of the European market. In 2016, the support to the Kosovar food-processing sector will continue, and will build on the knowledge and lessons learned during Anuga and Food Ingredients Europe.