Unique Georgian Taste Welcomes the Autumn Season in Tbilisi
The 16th Unique Georgian Taste agromarket celebrated Georgian agriculture, featuring niche and terroir produce from regions nationwide in Dedaena Park in Tbilisi. The event was organised by FAO under the EU and Sweden-funded European Neighborhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) IV. The agromarket aimed to support its producers in promoting their agricultural goods, showcasing the country’s agricultural heritage and contemporary gastronomic trends.
With 60 participating producers, the Unique Georgian Taste agromarket featured dairy and meat products, alcoholic beverages, as well as artisanal confectionery, honey, almond products, jams, and other culinary delicacies. Most participating producers also attended a food safety and labelling training held by the FAO National Food Safety Expert – Salome Gigashvili. During the capacity-building session, the producers of niche and terroir products learned about ensuring food safety in production, as well as the importance of labelling, thus allowing consumers to know exactly what they are purchasing.
Notably, FAO, under the ENPARD IV of the EU and Sweden, is supporting the agromarket participants in identifying the nutritional composition of their products so that they can create labels for them. By the end of 2024, FAO anticipates that the producers at Unique Georgian Taste will have their products fully labelled to improve their market competitiveness.
The participating producers have benefited from EU and Sweden-funded FAO projects in Georgia. They have received matching grants to improve their agricultural ventures or utilised relevant training opportunities.
“EU actively supports Georgian farmers and producers in advancing their production with modern equipment, methodologies, and good practices. Implementing today’s food safety standards is key in building the required loyalty and trust for local and international consumers. I am therefore glad to see that so many producers of niche and terroir products are keen to comprehensively integrate these standards in their practices and hence help people discover the country’s rich agricultural heritage,” said Denis Reiss, Programme Officer for Sustainable Food Systems at the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.
“With the Unique Georgian Taste agromarket, FAO has supported 70 participating producers by allowing them to access the market in this format. The event’s success is clearly demonstrated by the impressive results that the participating producers have achieved. They have reported at least a 15 per cent increase in their sales, as well as a 35 per cent increase in collective income. Through training opportunities and the commercial platform that the Unique Georgian Taste has become, we are continually ascertaining that high-quality, nutritious, unique, and importantly safe products are very much in demand on the Georgian market,” says Guido Agostinucci, FAO Programme Manager.
About the European Union
For more than 30 years, the European Union has built a close partnership with Georgia, supporting its development through knowledge and experience sharing, expertise, innovation and financial support. The relationship between the EU and Georgia is based on shared values of peace, freedom, democracy, human rights and inclusive economic growth. More about the EU’s support in Georgia https://eu4georgia.eu/the-european-union-in-georgia/
About the project
The European Union supports rural development in Georgia through its ENPARD Programme. Aiming to reduce rural poverty, ENPARD has been implemented since 2013. The Programme started by supporting the development of national agriculture potential. Subsequently, it also concentrated on creating economic opportunities for rural populations in Georgia. Since 2021, the Programme has also been working on improving food safety in the country, with additional support from Sweden, and with FAO and the Czech Development Agency as the main implementers of this food safety component under ENPARD IV.