PROJECT SUMMARY
FAO and the EBRD joined forces to help Montenegro and Serbia to improve quality standards and labelling for a range of quality products that will promote sustainable agrifood value chains, increase market competitiveness and tap into tourism markets.
CONTEXT
The EBRD and FAO are supporting smallholder producers and processors in Montenegro and Serbia to tap into differentiated markets for their highly specific and traditional food products which include a delicious array of smoked meats, cheeses, fruits, pickles and condiments. With the right support and investment, they can sell quality agrifood products that are responsibly produced and sourced directly to consumers, retailers, tourists, hotels and restaurants, shortening supply chains, boosting resilience and raising incomes. Adhering to new food safety regulations ensures that smaller food producers have a chance to stay in business and be competitive in the national market, increase export opportunities and modernize traditional gastronomy.
The project builds on work started in 2014 to strengthen quality standards in the region’s agrifood sector through geographical indications, quality labelling and safety including in the horticultural (Serbia) and meat (Montenegro and Serbia) sectors. It also promotes sustainable agrifood value chains through linkages with tourism in Montenegro – work that started in 2018.
Activities
Improve food quality and safety standards and facilitate public-private sector dialogues in Serbia’s meat and dairy sector.
Promote inclusion of smallholders in local and regional value chains as well as greater market participation.
Promote sustainable agrifood value chains through short value chain linkages with tourism in Montenegro and support producers involved in agritourism activities to better market their traditional products to tourists.
Consolidate the development of quality and origin-based labels including strengthening the capacity of associations to access markets for their certified products and promoting public and private quality labels and certified Geographical Indication (GI) products.
Carry out regional knowledge-sharing activities including workshops and conferences, field visits and remote coaching to strengthen the GI system and through two national workshops with Georgia to share experiences and provide a guideline tool to optimize controls of GIs, targeting GI organizations, authorities, facilitators and producers.
Achievements
- Food safety and quality in Serbia and Montenegro including through discussion and development of flexible rules on food hygiene for small producers aligned to EU best practices and hygiene package regulation, the introduction of a new Serbian Quality Label (SQL), and public-private policy dialogues. Training materials include twelve videos on flexibility measures on food hygiene and a workshop in June 2021.
- Promoted agritourism and gastronomy in five municipalities in Montenegro including a fair in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica to showcase market-ready products from family farms and the establishment of a gastronomy route in the less-visited northern part of the country. Support included inputs to the strategy on rural tourism and developing a road map to link agriculture to rural tourism and support the policy dialogue and advocacy of the Montenegro Rural Tourism Association for food safety and public health measures related to COVID-19. Two international conferences with the European Federation of Rural tourism were held in Montenegro in 2022
- Strengthened agri-food value chains by connecting small producers with larger agribusiness companies including Nectar, Atlantic Grupa, and Franca in Serbia and Montenegro that can help develop and promote new products with GI labels that meet European Union standards. GI registration and certification status so far include:
- Serbia: GI certification for raspberries from Arilje (Ariljska malina) and sour cherry from Oblacina (Oblacinska visnja) with ongoing support to pepper paste from Kopaonik (Ajvar).
- Montenegro: GI certification for Crnogorska Goveđa pršuta (Montenegrin dried beef meat) and Crnogorska Stelja (Montenegrin dried and smoked sheep meat) with ongoing support to Pljevlja cheese producers and others on obtaining the GI certification.
- Established a local brand with a network of producers of mountain and sea traditional products and gastronomy specialties under the SQL quality brand ‘Gorska Trpeza’ (Mountain Bounty) and ‘Morska Trpeza’ (Sea Bounty) with continued work to develop a branding strategy to promote a unified brand for Grossa and Moska.
- Enhanced market links and concrete commercial relationships with major hotels and restaurants for traditionally produced and processed quality agrifood products including support to collectively organize, enhance food quality and safety and enhance packaging and labeling.
- Continued to develop and expand me – an existing B2B platform and app – including through backward linkages of GIs and traditional agricultural products to tourism.
