On November 21-22, the New Food Summit was held in Kyiv. The event brought together 450 representatives/representatives of the food, agricultural and processing industries, grocery retail, food tech startups and investors. About this GrowHow organisers reported.

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New Food Summit— is the first event about ideas, technologies and businesses that are changing the food market. Key industry players and representatives of the state discussed which strategy for the development of the agrifood sector will allow Ukraine to become an influential player in the world food market.

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The issue of food security became much more acute with the beginning of the hot phase of Russia's war against Ukraine. To survive and compete in the world under new constraints — logistical, security, financial — Ukrainian agricultural producers and food producers must build more complex, non-raw material business models.

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To transform the agrifood sector in Ukraine, it is necessary to form an ecosystem that connects not only business, but also calls for dialogue between the scientific community, universities and the state. It is then that an innovative environment and science-intensive directions will be formed in Ukraine, breakthrough products will begin to appear,
— this opinion was expressed by Olena Vovk, co-owner of the biotechnology company Enzyme Group and the food producer Kormotech.

Boris Shestopalov, founder and investor of Volia Agri-Food Park, co-owner and CEO of HD-Group, co-owner of GFS Group, talked about the examples of the Netherlands, Israel and Denmark, which at one time had much worse starting conditions than Ukraine, but were able to build an efficient economy through the development of clusters and Ecosystems.

If you look at the root cause of their success, the answer lies in the logic of interaction — this is real, not formal cooperation of all players. In these countries, the famous triple helix is successfully operating — state + business + science and education. Such interaction contributes to the formation of ecosystem solutions,
— noted the ideologist of the New Food Summit.

He added that in order to create a history of Ukrainian collective success, it is necessary to learn not only to rally around common misfortune, but also to unite for a common goal — development and profit.

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The civilized world is moving towards open ecosystems, where cooperation is a more successful model of development compared to competition — Nadezhda Bihun, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, pointed out. According to her, the state will do everything possible to support manufacturers who want to produce value-added products.

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During the discussion on the sources of financing of the Ukrainian agrifood sector, Oleksandr Hryban, head of the investment team Advantage Ukraine, noted that internal resources and investments are now more accessible to Ukrainian companies.

If we talk about the best sources of financing up to $50 million, based on the ease and speed of obtaining, at the moment these are internal grants from the state or organizations, as well as funds from Ukrainian banks,
— emphasized Oleksandr Griban.

As for the key trends that Ukrainian manufacturers should look at, Olena Vovk focused on two. The first is speed, since most modern people cannot afford to devote several hours to cooking. This accelerates the development of ready to eat/ready to cook trends, affects processing, delivery, digital applications, etc.

The second trend is a way of processing products, such as fermentation. This is a very old technology that is now becoming relevant. Why? To feed 8 billion people, animal protein will not be enough. Plant alternatives are not perfect in terms of ecology and composition. Fermentation is very promising in terms of care for the external environment, benefits and the development of new tastes,
— the speaker noted.

Also, according to her, manufacturers should understand that Ukrainian consumers are becoming more aware and more ready for new products and innovations than the producers themselves. This is the motivation for them to actively develop, so as not to lose consumers of imports.

Agri-Food of the future is the complete traceability of the product from cultivation, processing and to its sale, and compliance with the basic principles of sustainable development and social responsibility. Astarte has already adopted a decarbonization strategy by 2030, which aims to reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions by 44%. We are also moving towards full traceability of products and extending the chain of its deep processing. If we cannot do it on our own, we attract partners, creating a business ecosystem,
— said Vyacheslav Chuk, commercial director of Astarta agroindustrial holding.

One of the important panel discussions at the New Food Summit 2023 was devoted to the prospects of Ukrainian processing and the search for new markets. The opinions of experts intersected in the statement that despite the high competitiveness of foreign markets in the field of agricultural processing, there is still a place for Ukrainian producers there.

There are many manufacturers in Europe, but they are not always flexible and are not ready to do as the customer wants. And this is a great advantage of Ukrainian manufacturers, because we are customer-oriented and adaptive,
— Yuriy Pulgun, Director of CPG Refine, is convinced.

New Food Summit producer Alla Lipinska noted that the event will bring together local and international players annually. It should be the basis of a platform that will bring together key players in the food, processing and agricultural industries.

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Source and photo: growhow.in.ua