Poland and the Netherlands Discover Albanian Fresh Produce

TIRANA, October 22

The Fresh Plazza, a Dutch startup focussed on the fresh produce industry shared the success story of Arbana Bio Cooperative LTD. The business, based in Kosovo is the leading Western Balkans company specialized in high-quality fruits and vegetables from Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia. The article highlights that the image of Albania as a supplier of fresh vegetables to the European Union market is changing fast.
Arbana Bio cultivates many fruits and vegetables, but currently, the tomatoes and peppers are in season. A busy time, according to export manager Labinot Sahiti: “This is the first year where we really see a big increase in demand and orders. Ten years ago nobody had even heard of Albania’s cultivation. More than a decade later, after we’ve invited potential clients to see and taste our produce, they’ve agreed that Albania is an interesting market for them. Poland and Holland have finally discovered our potential.”
Most of the produce is exported to the Netherlands and Poland, but Italy, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Romania expressed their interest in purchasing Albanian tomatoes and peppers.
“The weather was great, which resulted in about a 15% increase of production this year. This helped, as the demand is growing just as fast. The prices are a lot better, although the increased demand will hardly have an effect on them. We have contracts for the most part, which means the prices are fixed for this season,” the Fresh Plaza quoted Sahiti as saying.
Moreover, he explained the reasons that make Albania so interesting in the eyes of potential buyers. At first, he mentions the optimal climate that makes possible to have two different seasons respectively in spring and autumn. Secondly, he pointed out that the seeds and fertilizers are EU approved and compliant to the EU EU phytosanitary requirement. About 4,000 tons of tomatoes and 1,600 tons of peppers were exported during this year.

News Source: Fresh Plaza