Ukrainian farmers have started the official export of snails to the EU
Ukrainian farmers have started the official export of snails to European countries. This year, the products were exported to Spain for the first time.
AgroPortal.ua was told about this by the director of FH "Agroravlik" Alexander Volokhovich.
“This year we exported 100 tons of snails to Spain, this was the first export made from Ukraine on the European base TRACES. Before us, there were no officially registered enterprises that directly exported snails from Ukraine to Spain, to the final consumer, ”notes Oleksandr Volokhovich.
According to him, the company has the opportunity to export snails to other EU countries, in particular Italy, Greece, France, because the farm has sufficient production capacity. The snails are raised here both for export and for scaling up - we are talking about the broodstock.
“There are requests within the Ukrainian market - this product as a food product is developing quite rapidly in our country,” adds Oleksandr Volokhovich.
Until recently, there were many snail farms in Ukraine, and the business was one of the most promising. However, two years of the pandemic took its toll, and a number of farms ceased operations.
“Now what can be called the rehabilitation of the year is happening - many farms have ceased or found themselves in a state of termination of activity. Unfortunately, as exporters, we can only cooperate with registered enterprises where the HACCP system is implemented and the necessary control is carried out. In reality, we can buy snails from many farmers, but we cooperate with several enterprises, ”says Alexander Volokhovich.
He added that Ukrainian snails are by no means worse than products from other countries.
“The Ukrainian snail, grown on farms where they understand this, is no different from European quality products. This is about the presentation and taste. Certainly, some countries with more favorable climatic conditions have advantages. Our climate is limited in time for growing snails, ”notes Alexander Volokhovich.
He said that the Ukrainian snail was previously exported to the EU through Lithuanian or Polish companies, and thus its origin was lost. That is, in fact, for Europe, the Ukrainian snail simply did not exist, since on official papers it was Polish or Lithuanian.
As for prices, they are unstable due to COVID. However, farmers expect their full recovery next year.
“The farmer decides at what price to sell his product. There are market prices. This year they were not the same as usual. If we are talking about prices before COVID, then they have not stabilized yet. I hope that they will return to normal next year, ”the entrepreneur predicts.