On May 23th, 2019, at 18.00, the event of the European Project “Taste FRUITful LIFE” was held in Belgrade, at IN Hotel. The event was attended by a large number of people, consisting mainly of representatives of major fresh fruit import companies, bloggers, wholesalers, retailers and journalists.
The audience had the opportunity to learn about the main objective of the campaign, to get information about the quality of European peaches, cherries, apples and nectarines as well as to get more information about the fruit production and processing. Moreover, the event was attended by a representative from the Greek official authorities in Serbia, Mr Lambis Kounalakis, Minister Counselor for Economic & Commercial Affairs, who mentioned at his welcome speech that the “Taste FRUITful LIFE” promotional campaign has a strong potential in raising the market share of European Products from Greece in Serbia due to the fact that the recent years Serbian consumers have obtained similar eating habits with Greek consumers and they are interested in a healthier lifestyle.
The representative of the Association of Producers Organizations, of Greece Mr. Efthimios Balanis, the General Manager of ASEPOP VELVENTOU, provided the audience with valuable insight on the process of producing high quality European fresh fruits. In addition, he highlighted the specific features of agricultural production methods, particularly in terms of traceability, authenticity, nutritional aspects, respect for the environment and sustainability. Moreover, he noted that tasty peaches, cherries, nectarines and apples are produced based on restrictive standards and procedures that arise from Common Agricultural Policy. More specifically, producers operating within the European Union are obliged to comply with the EU regulations that allow supervision of the whole food production chain “from the farm to the table”.
EU farm policy has changed considerably in recent decades in order to help farmers face challenges and respond to changing consumer’s attitudes and expectations. As a result, the consumers enjoy high quality fruits that combine unique taste with guaranteed food safety.
Mr. George Kormentzas, General Director of GAIA EPICHEIREIN S.A, referred to the main objectives of the promotional action entitled “Taste FRUITful LIFE” which aim to raise public awareness on quality of Union agricultural products and also raise their market share in the Serbian market.
During the second part of the event, the popular Serbian food blogger Vitki Gurman – Mrs. Maja Petrović, prepared tasty fruit recipes for the audience and took photos with them.