Richard Tracy: Azerbaijan Has Some Very Tasty Food

The US Trade Department in partnership with the World Alliance of Refrigerated Warehouses in order to improve efficiency in Azerbaijan’s agricultural sector will help in improving its economic output.

To this end, on September 9 at the Hyatt Conference Center a seminar was held on cold stores and refrigeration equipment.

The forum, with the support of the US government, was participated by 50 Azerbaijani specialists and industry experts from the World Alliance of Refrigerated Warehouses, which talked about ways to modernize food storage and transportation procedures, as well as the development of agriculture.

The Vice-President of the World Alliance of Refrigerated Warehouses, Richard Tracy, told the Azerbaijani specialists participating in the workshop about new innovations in the field of refrigerated warehouse technologies, as well as the optimization of efficiency and energy savings. According to him, in many institutions of Azerbaijan, food storage complies with international standards.

‘We will assist in expanding the capacity of agribusiness in Azerbaijan, as well as exports of agricultural products from Azerbaijan. The World Alliance has offices in 75 countries. Our main goal is to ensure safe transportation of food products. I have seen the conditions in which food is contained in Azerbaijan and made sure it is in accordance with international standards. However, there are some objects that do not meet international standards, and here it is necessary to help,’ Richard Tracy said.

Recall that the US Trade Department has invited three experts to Azerbaijan, which from 6 to 8 September assessed refrigerated warehouses of agricultural companies in Ujar, Samukh, Khachmaz, Baku and Khirdalan. Experts believe that as a result of cooperation Azerbaijani companies will be able to create new bases.

‘We visited 5 or 6 farms. The quality of cold rooms there is really very good. Some companies are willing to provide further improvement in this area. We will assist them in this regard,’ Tracy said.

As for the competitiveness of Azerbaijani agricultural products in the US market, Tracy said there are some very tasty foods in Azerbaijan, and it is known worldwide. The only question is whether the manufacturers will be able to produce all these goods in sufficient amounts in order to provide durable competition from the price viewpoint. Potatoes and tomatoes are included in the category of products, where the most important factor is the price, because in the world there are such products, the competitiveness of which is verified by the price. On the other hand, Azerbaijan has an advantage such as growing pomegranates. Azerbaijan may become the most competitive in the world in the export of this particular product, the Vice-President said.   -0-