The Canadian-based company has made an agreement with National Consulting Group, a Kiev-based company to distribute its products in the country. Food safe said that National Consulting will represent it both in Ukraine and any other available distribution within Europe that the consulting group already covers. This will allow the company to increase its presence particularly in CIS countries.
Food Safe added its beleif that there is huge potential for the distribution of its food safe process and supplemental food safety equipment, saying that it intends to finalise as many distribution channels as possible over the next few months to improve the safety of fresh foods such as meat, vegetables and fruit.
Food safety is an issue of growing importance in CIS countries, where food processing is undergoing huge growth. Food safe says it is aiming to be in a position to provide both the equipment and processes needed to meet the escalating demands in respect to food safety, both in the region and internationally.
Although the Ukraine is still a relatively young market, Food Safe is strategically placing itself in a country that is expected to show some of the fastest segment growth in the region. Emerging from a post-1998 economic crisis, 2003 witnessed a shift in food consumption patterns towards more sophisticated processed food products as Ukraine's economic situation improved, underpinning rises in income and boosting purchasing power for consumers.
According to APK (Inform Information Agency), market surveys showed that around 92 per cent of food sold in Ukrainian shops was produced in Ukraine. Such a small share of imports could be explained by a very fast growth of domestic food processing industry, which uses inexpensive raw materials, said the APK.