VALUE CHAIN SELECTION ANALYSIS: SERBIA FOOD PROCESSING SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING (CSS) ACTIVITY

June 20, 2017 This report is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Cardno Emerging Markets USA, Ltd. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. VALUE CHAIN SELECTION ANALYSIS: SERBIA FOOD PROCESSING SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING (CSS) ACTIVITY

Submitted by: Cardno Emerging Markets USA, Ltd.

Submitted to: USAID/Serbia

Contract No.: AID-169-C-17-00003 Competitiveness Systems Strengthening (CSS) Activity

DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

Competitiveness Systems Strengthening (CSS) Activity

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION: PROCESS AND SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT ...... 1 ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS PROCESS ...... 1 CANDIDATE VALUE CHAINS ...... 2 EVALUATION CRITERIA ...... 2 ANALYSIS OF FOOD PROCESSING VALUE CHAINS ...... 4 OVERVIEW OF VALUE CHAINS IN FOOD PROCESSING ...... 4 Non-Candidate Value Chains ...... 5 Statistics from Firm-level Interviews ...... 6 The competitiveness framework and impact potential ...... 6 VEGETABLES ...... 9 Sales Growth Potential ...... 10 Impact Potential ...... 12 Scale Potential ...... 13 FRUITS ...... 13 Sales Growth Potential ...... 14 Impact Potential ...... 15 Scale Potential ...... 16 DAIRY ...... 17 Sales Growth Potential ...... 17 Impact Potential ...... 18 Scale Potential ...... 18 MAPS AND NWFPS ...... 18 Sales Growth Potential ...... 19 Impact Potential ...... 19 Scale Potential ...... 19 HONEY ...... 20 Sales Growth Potential ...... 20 Impact Potential ...... 20 Scale Potential ...... 20 RECOMMENDATION OF VALUE CHAINS FOR SELECTION ...... 21 ANNEX 1: INTERVIEWED COMPANIES ...... 24 ANNEX 2: INTERVIEWED INSTITUTIONS ...... 27 ANNEX 3: REFERENCES ...... 30 ANNEX 4: FIRM-LEVEL INTERVIEW GUIDE ...... 32 Tables Table 1: Key Statistics of Food Processing Subsectors ...... 4 Table 2: Summary Statistics from Firm-Level Interviews ...... 6 Table 3: Vegetables Value Chain Interviewees Summary Statistics ...... 10 Table 4: Berries Value Chain - Interviewed Companies Statistics ...... 14 Table 5: Dairy Value Chain Interviewees Business Summary ...... 17 Table 6: MAPs and NWFPs Interviewees Business Results ...... 18 Table 7: Honey Value Chain Interviewees Business Results ...... 20 Table 8: Summary Rating of Candidate Value Chains ...... 22

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Introduction: Process and Scope of Assessment Building on previous investments, successes and lessons learned from USAID and other donor initiatives in Serbia, USAID’s Competitiveness Systems Strengthening Activity1 (Project) aims to strengthen market systems that are supporting food processing industry, while focusing on the growth of sales as the key benchmark for evaluating performance. In order for this to be achieved, the project will actively seek partnership with industry stakeholders to create platforms for exchange and knowledge sharing based on clear market driven principles. In order to make this approach successful, everything that the project does and will do in the future will be done to respond to industry interests and in partnership with key stakeholders in order to make capacity building an integrated process. This report represents the first step in the strategy. Departing from previous value chain reports, Cardno team worked actively with Ministry of Economy (MoE) and consulting agencies currently developing four sector-based strategies for the MoE to integrate our effort with those of the GoS to the extent possible. We also researched and integrated information from other studies recently completed on food processing industry in Serbia, and actively discussed implementation ideas with industry leaders, Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), Serbian Development Agency (RAS) and Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Recommendations in this report are thus mostly in line with current efforts undertaken by the GoS, other donors, and the industry itself. The report is a reflection of the industry in regards to five value chains/sub sectors that helped the Project to select two to focus on during four years of implementation. The selected value chains will be used as pilots in our efforts to establish systemic approach to developing and promoting products, value chains or industries of interest to Serbia, based on market opportunities and country’s potential to fulfil them. After extensive effort, we propose the following two general food processing value chains (VCs) for Project focus: 1) Vegetable products 2) Fruit products Each of these VCs incorporates sub-products (or individual product value chains) that present unique opportunities based on their production base, processing capacity, market channels and brand recognition – and thus warrant tailored assistance. However, the sub-products within each by and large share certain cross cutting elements, such as cool/cold-chain infrastructures, institutional support services, processing technologies, and distribution/marketing channels. For these reasons, to be further detailed below, it makes sense to group them as presented.

Assessment and analysis process After a kick-off meeting on May 15, 2017, Cardno team worked approximately three weeks in the field, conducting firm-level research, most often with site visits, of 97 companies and 56 institutions, covering the entire country split into south, central and north Serbia. We placed

1 Project’s formal name is “Competitiveness Systems Strengthening (CSS) Activity.” The name of the project for public outreach and communications purposes is USAID Competitive Economy project (English version) and USAID Projekat za konkurentnu privredu (Serbian).

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particular focus on the industry itself, segmenting companies into small, medium and large, in order to obtain clear insight into growth opportunities and systemic obstacles to competitiveness. The company interviews were conducted according to a standard protocol to ensure collection of information on products, market opportunities, competitiveness challenges, business relationships, and firm-level data as to past and projected sales and employment trends.2 Additionally, the team reviewed some more than 20 documents, covering the other relevant studies of the Serbia food processing sector that have been conducted over the past five years, as well as gathering and compiling detailed statistics for 105 companies from all 4 sectors in the four select VCs from the Agency for Statistics and the Business Registers Agency. The team met on June 8-9, 2017 and arrived at consensus that vegetable and fruit products should be the first two VCs for Project to focus on.

Candidate Value Chains The approved scope of work identified four candidate VCs: (i) vegetables and non-berry fruits, (ii) MAPs and NWFPs, (iii) berries, and (iv) dairy. These were in fact thoroughly evaluated. In the process of the many interviews conducted, however, it was not surprising that other VCs with growth potential came to the team’s attention. The only additional one that we investigated in any detail was (v) honey. “Organic” or “premium” was also briefly considered as a separate cross- cutting VC, but it was decided that this should be considered as one of the potential cross-cutting areas/marketing channels for each of the product-defined VCs, rather than a VC on its own.

Evaluation criteria The procedure for selection was straightforward: conduct a thorough assessment, based on ground- level interviews, review of relevant documents and statistics, and the deep experience of the assessment team, and then rate each candidate VC against the following criteria: 1. Aggregate sales growth potential (weight = 40%). Sales growth is the overarching objective of the Project contract. Sales growth potential means that: – There are clear opportunities in domestic, import-competing, and/or export processed foods markets for sales expansion by Serbian producers, during the term of the project. Export markets are given high priority due to the broader market potential to absorb growth. – Serbian producers have the capability to supply those opportunities, if their identified competitiveness obstacles can be addressed – The market potential for increased value-added processing and product development / innovation in the VC is significant 2. Impact potential (weight = 40%). A VC may have excellent sales growth potential, but may not need development assistance to realize that potential, or, the kinds of interventions that project is designed to provide may not be able to significantly affect its growth. Therefore, for purposes of VC selection, impact potential must be weighted as strongly as sales growth potential. Impact potential means that:

2 Firm Level Interview Guide is included in an annex to this report. Annex 4

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– The obstacles to the realization of the aggregate sales growth potential – the competitiveness challenges – are identifiable, and can be effectively addressed by project- supported activities and interventions. – Institutions and potential implementing partners are in place with and through which project can work, and who can institutionalize and sustain our methods and impact. – There is clear potential to establish sustainable relationship networks among public and private sector actors to strengthen the competitiveness system supporting the VC. 3. Scale potential (weight = 20%). Project seeks wide impact. A VC may have strong growth potential if the project can help it address its competitiveness obstacles, but may consist of only a handful of large firms, and / or, perhaps because it is highly automated, may have a low jobs-to-sales ratio. For our purposes, then, scale potential means that: – The number of SMEs that will participate in the aggregate sales expansion is large – The potential growth in sales will have substantial job creation impact.

As is evident, these selection criteria take account of the issues stipulated by the contract to be considered in the analysis, namely: > The firms and actors that operate within the sector > The nature of relationships between these actors, including their levels of cooperation and competition > The state of institutions, technology, service providers, and other production conditions > Policy constraints limiting development > The financial and non-financial resources available, including technical, business and financial services > The formal and informal rules, which drive the behaviors of these actors. We proceed in Part 2 to present our analysis of each of the candidate value chains listed above. The presentation is straightforward: since the selection of focus value chains depends on how each is rated versus the criteria presented above, we discuss the candidate value chains one-by-one, describing for each (i) its sales growth potential, (ii) its impact potential, and (iii) its scale potential. We then draw from this analysis in Part 3 to justify our recommendations of the two value chains noted above for project focus.

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Analysis of Food Processing Value Chains

Overview of Value Chains in Food Processing Table 1 below provides a statistical overview of the Serbia food processing sector, drawn from the most recent reports by CEVES completed for PKS and Maxima Consulting completed for the MoA3. The table is sorted according to 2015 sales by subsector, ranging from over $1 billion for mill and bakery products, to $55 million for spirits. As a whole, the food processing sector exceeds $6 billion in annual sales, and employs over 70,000 people, and has much larger actual and potential impact through its producer suppliers in the agricultural sector.

The subsectors in the table are defined according to Serbia’s official classification system, and therefore do not break out some of our candidate value chains. Processed fruits and vegetables includes both soft and hard fruits, and all vegetables. MAPs and NWFPs are contained in “other products”. We have gathered some breakout data, however, at least for the companies that we interviewed, and provide that in discussion of our candidate value chains below. The data in Table 1 helps support our selection, both in terms of those that were not taken as candidates for analysis, and those that were.

Table 1: Key Statistics of Food Processing Subsectors

Subsector Sales €MM Sales # Firms Sales/Firm # Empl / Product- 2015 Share $000 Employees Firm ivity* Mill and bakery products 1,044 17.3% 1,439 730 22,985 16 8,960 Processed fruits and vegetables 810 13.4% 648 1,250 7,849 12 15,030 Meat and processed meat 746 12.4% 442 1,690 11,535 26 9,620 products Milk and dairy products 603 10.0% 203 2,970 5,781 28 21,800 Animal feed 542 9.0% 194 2,790 3,592 19 16,980 Other products 495 8.2% 438 1,130 5,491 13 16,030 Soft drinks 495 8.2% 121 4,090 3,922 32 27,280 Oils and fats 459 7.6% 36 12,750 2,141 59 31,290 Beer 278 4.6% 29 9,590 2,287 79 33,230 Sugar 261 4.3% 12 21,750 1,025 85 41,950 Confectionery products 178 3.0% 105 1,700 2,975 28 12,100 Wine production 58 1.0% 105 550 906 9 11,040 Spirits 55 0.9% 115 480 784 7 16,580 Total Food Industry 6,024 100.0% 3,887 1,550 71,273 18 14,900 Source: Maxima Consulting and CEVES reports (2017) * Productivity = Gross Value Added / Employee

3 Maxima Consulting report prepared for the MoA thru WBG funding is still in draft form and not for public circulation.

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Non-Candidate Value Chains Several VCs were excluded from our set of candidates for Project support. The table helps explain some of these, in addition to other reasons. > Mill and bakery products figures as a candidate due to the largest sales, firms, and number of employees. However, it is a highly bimodal industry. Very few large firms dominate the milling industry, accounting for the majority of the subsector’s sales, while most of the baking industry consists of a very large number of small firms – corner bakeries. Sales are almost entirely domestic, and therefore growth potential is limited more or less to that of the overall economy. Furthermore, it is difficult to see significant limitations in the competitive system on the performance of these value chains – project impact potential is low. > Oils and fats, soft drinks, and sugar, while reasonably sizeable, are dominated by a small number of firms. They do export these commodity-like products, but into mature, mostly regional markets, in line with broad population growth trends. USAID project assistance, especially in oils/fats and sugar, would have limited impact. Also, other than beer, these are highly mechanized value chains with the three highest productivity ratios of all listed subsectors, meaning that even if there were substantial sales growth potential, the job creation impact would be low. > Meat products has very large sales, a large number of firms, and a high job creation-to-sales growth potential. However, sales growth potential is almost entirely limited to the domestic market, due to the fact that only a small handful of the firms operating in the industry have the strict sanitary certifications required for export of meats to the EU4 (or other markets). The competitive systems obstacles that need to be addressed in terms of growing sales and accessing new markets could be addressed using a similar approach promoted by the project. Before that takes place, regulatory and the basic sanitary certification synchronization process will have to take place, and that will likely take longer than the term of this project - even if the project were to put substantial resources into resolving it. > Beer, wine, and spirits are made up of a quite small number of firms, and in the case of beer, low job creation potential. Wine sector has been successfully promoted in the region by USAID – namely Macedonia – and Serbia has excellent examples of coordinated industry performance for growing exports, as reflected in the Wine Association of Sumadija. > Confectionary was identified in our proposal as one that we anticipated as a candidate. Upon further consideration, we concluded that its sales growth potential, largely domestic, did not justify inclusion, and that even with project support, the potential for significant expansion into export markets beyond diaspora was limited. With these exclusions, the subsectors that remain – processed fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products, other products, and animal feed – contain the candidate value chains that we have analysed.

4 Furthermore, Serbia-specific practices, such as inoculation of animals for swine flu, prevent not only the export of pork to the EU, but even its shipment through it, so that exports to non-EU markets, such as Russia, must go by sea, from Montenegro.

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Statistics from Firm-level Interviews The assessment team conducted site-visit interviews or research on with 105 individual food processing or related companies in order to obtain private sector information as to market opportunities, obstacles to realizing them, and competitive system relationships. Companies provided data on their sales and employment levels, and their recent and medium-term expected growth trends. The following table provides an overall summary of these statistics.

Table 2: Summary Statistics from Firm-Level Interviews Value Chain #Companies Sales €MM Employment Growth (annual average) Total Avg Range Total Avg Range 2014-16 2017 2018-20 F&V 31 380 12 0.5-113 3326 107 8-960 5% 7% 5-10% Berries 21 134 6.3 0.1-20.1 1153 55 1-175 13% 15% 15-20%

MAPs and 14 17 1.25 0.01-4.5 352 25 1-72 0% 2% 0-5% NWFPs Dairy 33 530 16 0.02-230 3703 112 3-940 2% 2.5% 0-5% Honey 6 14 2.3 1.0-6.5 58 10 3-15 20% 5% 10-15% Total 105 1075 8592

Interviewed companies account for over €1 billion in sales and about 8600 employees. They span micro, small, medium, and large firms, with sales ranging from €10,000 to €230 million per year, and employment from sole proprietorships to nearly 1,000. The table covers the four principal candidate value chains, plus honey. Combining sales growth potential, impact and scale potential, it supports our pilot VC selection for short duration implementation. F&V, berries, and honey show the highest sales growth trends, while F&V and berries also indicate large job creation potential, in contrast to honey production and processing. In addition, Serbia is recognized worldwide as one of the leaders in fruit production, especially in raspberries and plums, giving it immediate strong marketing/branding potential. Dairy appears to have significant employment potential, but, along with MAPs and NWFPs, its sales growth expectations are quite moderate. These statistics do not include the many thousands of producers that benefit by supplying the candidate value chains. The competitiveness framework and impact potential Cardno employs a straightforward analytical framework to identify competitiveness obstacles and develop competitiveness action plans, which is captured in the following figure.

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Figure 1: Project Competitiveness Framework

This framework was used in the firm-level interview process to obtain organized information on the obstacles that companies see in realizing their particular market opportunities. Issues were raised in all five areas. Based on the nature and extent of those obstacles, we can derive findings on the potential for CEP-supported interventions to have development impact – the second key criterion for VC selection. For three of these competitiveness areas – (3) access to finance, (4) workforce, and (5) business enabling environment – challenges were common to all of the assessed value chains, and impact potential was similar. In order to avoid repetition in the VC-by-VC presentation below, we discuss findings as to these cross-cutting issues here. > Access to finance. Interviewees consistently identified access to finance as a problem, to different degrees. Smaller processors in general are chronically underfinanced, and depend mainly on owner resources and retained earnings for expansion. Medium-sized and larger companies can generally access bank finance for normal plant and equipment needs in keeping with their existing businesses, but not for expansion into new directions, especially if large- scale. That is, the “risk capital” necessary for development of new products or markets, which usually comes from nonbank sources, is largely absent in the Serbian financial sector due to regulatory environment and nature of the sector. The EU has prepared several programs under EDIF, ENEF and ENIF with WBG and EBRD to respond to this need, but utilization of these facilities have been limited. The availability of working capital finance – asset-based inventory and receivables credit – is also difficult to find, although EU COSME program with Intesa and Unicredit provide financing to the sector. Procredit, as a leader in lending to agricultural sector has also executed few guarantee schemes successfully and are applying for more programs as

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responsive from the small and medium sector has been encouraging. All credit providers agree that outreach to the industry should improve and that pipeline development is the major gap between companies and credit providers, while financial literacy needs to be the main focus in the pipeline development process. Meanwhile, the majority of financial resources available to the food sector from government is devoted to agricultural subsidies, although the Development Fund, MoA and MoE grants, RAS and the Export Credit Agency all directly support the industry as well in a variety of ways. The GoS facilities however tend to lack focus, coordination and clarity of procedures, and the general sense of the industry is that they are not very familiar with the support GoS is providing. For some of them, differentiation between social and investment focus is also a problem. The issue of disconnected between broader industry and public programs is also reflected in awareness and knowledge of the upcoming IPARD program where majority of companies does not have clarity on procedures or focus of this program. However, positive examples of outreach, focus, project diagnostic and creative financing can be found within public finance offering space – Innovation Fund deploys competitive revenue based financing models for start-ups and growing companies, a system that could serve as an example to other GoS entities. There is thus a clear opportunity for more targeted and coordinated outreach to the selected industries within this sector. This relative disconnect between the various sources of available finance and the certain industry segments is apparent and can be attributed to regulation, lack of outreach, financial literacy and technical knowledge of the sectors on the credit side. Project will respond to this need for coordination and better targeting by working with the system actors on establishing a central point of information for processors regarding sources of finance and technical assistance in applying for finance. This process will be supported by targeted outreach campaigns and advocacy for development of other sustainable bank and nonbank channels of working capital and growth finance for food processors. While the production and marketing techniques required for Serbian food processing value chains to achieve their sales growth potential are fairly clear, as will be described below, major financial resources will be needed to implement them, for such things as the expansion of outgrower base, mechanization of harvesting, diversification of product offered to the market, the international branding and marketing of products expansion of processing infrastructure, improvement of logistics, production under greenhouses, and extension of cold chain infrastructure. > Workforce. In general, the main workforce problem identified by companies interviewed was in finding personnel with higher professional skills – food processing engineers / technicians, and business managers, in particular marketing managers, especially for foreign trade. We found that even larger companies had limited capacities in market research and access and this is figuring as the biggest obstacle to business expansion. This was shared by all value chains. Related, the lack of effective interaction between the food processing industry and food sector- related faculties and scientific institutions remains an issue, as well as the narrow focus of the overburdened state agricultural extension services. Recent Maxima Consulting report for the MoA shows that despite the existence of 273 registered R&D organizations, their application to the food industry is poor, due to lack of organized communication.

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Realizing the sales growth potential of the selected value chains will require a major expansion and promulgation of technical knowledge in both agriculture and processing. Project will achieve impact in this area by organizing sustainable networks educators, innovation services providers, consultancies, and processors, to develop and deliver the workforce skills and knowledge needed for competitiveness. > Business environment. Even though business environment constraints will not be a major focus of the Project, issues and impact potential in this competitiveness area were also common to all of the candidate value chains. The most common problem categories that interviewees cited were (i) the insufficiency and ineffectiveness of government support for the food industry, which is only about 1/10 the level per hectare of that in the EU, including neighbouring Croatia, (ii) unfair competition from the informal sector, (iii) public infrastructure deficiencies (irrigation, roads), (iv) failure to develop and promulgate EU/WTO- consistent food safety standards, and (v) land reform. Project-organized value chain networks, with public-private participation, will consistently identify, elevate, mainstream and advocate for resolution of these issues for the food processing industry, working with other donor activities such as the upcoming phase of the USAID Business Enabling Project. A final cross-cutting challenge relevant to project impact potential is the weakness of organized collaborative relationships in the food processing sector in general. Interviewees were generally negative as to the effectiveness of cluster associations and chambers. Other than in the raspberries sub-sector, processor-producer business relationships were characterized as often unreliable and mistrustful. While there are exceptions, collaboration among producers to share technologies and marketing channels is weak. Even where it producer collaboration exists, most of the time it only extends to joint purchasing of inputs, rather than organized plans to commonly produce particular varieties and sell in quantity to the market. All candidate VCs share these three competitiveness areas, so that impact potential is similar for all – and substantial. They do not, therefore, differentially affect the selection of value chains for project focus. The two competitiveness areas where impact potential may be differentiated by VC are (1) product and productivity, and (2) connection to markets. In assessing impact potential, these will be the focus in findings for the individual candidate VCs below.

Vegetables This VC consists of products made from perishable vegetables – mainly peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, leafy greens, potatoes, onions, leeks, and garlic. These products are combined as a single, broad value chain, because they are collected and cool-stored in similar facilities, and share similar processing characteristics and marketing channels. Supporting the vegetables value chain in general recognizes one of the more important considerations for advancing the Serbian food sector: the fragmented nature of land holdings in the country, where over 80% of farms are less than 10 hectares. Most vegetables are grown on such smaller farms, and large agribusiness have not made big inroads in that sector due to heavy labor requirements. There is an opportunity for systemic support to make a large number of farmers collectively competitive.

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Table 4 summarizes the business results of 22 processors that we interviewed participating in the vegetables sector. Their growth has been steady and expected to continue – a good base for the product and marketing advances that project will stimulate.

Table 3: Vegetables Value Chain Interviewees Summary Statistics Subsector #Companies Sales €MM Growth (annual average) Total Avg Range 2014-16 2017 2018-20 Vegetables only 9 32 3.6 0.6 – 11.6 5% 10% 5-10% Fruit and Vegetables 13 270 20.8 0.7 – 113 5% 8% 5-10% Total 22 302

Sales Growth Potential Vegetable products can be broken into four categories, based on their processing techniques: frozen, dried, pasteurized/pickled, and fresh. We assess the greatest sales growth potential in the vegetables value chain to be in the fresh and pasteurized/pickled categories. Fresh Vegetables For purposes of this report, and forthcoming USAID assistance, “fresh” in many respects is a processed product – certainly in the sense that for raw farm output to be commercial, significant value must be added. This applies to vegetables as well as to fruits, as will be discussed below. For vegetable products to be commercially fresh, they must be (i) grown in adequate quantities of consistent quality, (ii) carefully graded and sorted into premium versus second-class product, (iii) packaged as required by commercial retailers, in some cases ready for the store shelf, and (iii) stored, shipped, and sold in end-to-end cold chains that preserve their freshness. Therefore, when we speak of processors in relation to fresh vegetables, we are mainly talking about companies that are not just aggregators who grade, sort, store, pack, and distribute. They often are large-scale vegetable producers who besides their own production have contracted production with smaller farmers. These products obtain premium pricing, reflecting their added value and desirability in the marketplace. In Serbia, we estimate that over 200,000 farmers are growing vegetables. According to available statistics, only about 25% of their output is reaching higher-level commercial channels, i.e. large distributors, retailers, or processors. 75% is sold through local greenmarkets and wholesale markets (kvantas). Vegetables sold on the large wholesale markets in Belgrade are sold in bulk, in “no name” wooden crates or nylon sacks. Domestic goods are not branded, nor is origin identified or dated. Many fresh vegetables that are sold through the large grocery retailers in Belgrade and other urban centers are imported from Turkey, Greece and other countries with warmer climate, usually in branded and dated cartons. While it is often noted that Serbia has a surplus in food products, based on Serbia Customs Administration data, imports of fresh vegetables, at $42 million in 2016, actually slightly exceed their exports ($38 million). This represents significant sales growth potential, and building on this, exports can be expanded. The international market is relatively open to Serbia food products. Other than food safety standards that are not difficult to fulfil, there are no restrictions on exports of fresh vegetable products to the EU. Markets such as Russia and the Middle East also have potential.

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Local and regional retail markets, as well as HORECA channel are outlets where localized branding has high potential. The organic fresh vegetables market is also rapidly expanding. According to Serbia Organica. there are some 250 certified organic producers in Serbia already, up 40% in the last five years. Some 7,500ha are certified for organic production, and another 4,500ha are in process. While still a small fraction of total land in agriculture, this shows strongly increasing interest on the part of producers, and this was confirmed in our site visits, where we saw some Serbian aggregators beginning to develop their own pilot plots, preparing the soil and initiating certifiable organic farming. 90% of current organic production is exported. Pasteurized/Pickled Vegetables These are vegetable products that are normally hot-treated in one form or another and then packaged, in cans, jars, or bags. There are approximately 80 companies doing such processing in Serbia – jarring of gherkins and peppers, preparing mixed condiments such as ajvar and pindjur, processing potatoes into various salty snacks and frozen French fries, and, to a limited extent, vegetables juicing. The market for these products is almost entirely domestic and in neighboring countries, where tastes are similar and Serbian brands are Middle East Export Potential for known. Serbian Traditional Processed Foods Nevertheless, we estimate that less than 10% of vegetables The largest distributor of food products for grown by Serbian farms are processed in this way. Exports the HORECA sector in the Emirates/GCC of these products are only about €32 million, suggesting region requested from Foodex, a substantial additional business if the ratio can be increased. processor of traditional red pepper- and fruit-based products from Vrnjačka Banja The market opportunity for pasteurized/pickled vegetables in South Serbia, samples of its entire includes (i) expansion of existing branded products, (ii) production program. Potential export private label production for EU brands, and (iii) development volume is 150,000 units/year, which would of organic/premium products, including traditional increase the company’s total sales by specialties and protected geographical indication, 25%. To gain this business, the company needs to obtain Halal certification, and designations that can be officially established and for which reconfigure jar sizes to adjust to region’s there are strongly growing international markets. Some retail norms. processors are also exploring a less demanding “natural” designation, or similar, which can be officially recognized and regulated, both for the Serbian and some European markets. Serbian traditional products are well received in the Middle East and there is evidence of significant market potential (see box). Looking at both fresh and pasteurized/pickled products combined, the import-competing and potential export markets accessible to Serbian vegetables processors are very large. If the share of farm-produced vegetables reaching commercial channels could rise to two-thirds of the total (from the current 25%), the sales of processed vegetables (value-added fresh and factory-processed) could increase by well over €100 million per year, and this is based only on the current production volume.5 We believe that with effective support to the competitive system, such sales growth is feasible.

5 This is a broad estimate derived from the value of total farm sales of vegetables reported in the Serbia Statistical Yearbook for the latest available year (2013) – approximately $110 million.

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Impact Potential Our firm-level interviews and research identified the principal competitiveness challenges faced by Serbia’s vegetables value chain in realizing the substantial sales growth potential outlined above. There are systemic obstacles in all five competitiveness areas, but no regulatory barriers to addressing them. Thus, the sector can be successfully supported through systemic approach by the Project while achieving relatively fast impact in this value chain. > Product and productivity. An overarching issue for the growth and competitiveness of processors is insufficient supplies of consistent-quality vegetables coming from to them from farms. This is caused by a severe lack of organized communication and planning between processors and producers, and too little collaborative production planning among farmers themselves. One consequence of this is that some processors are vertically developing their own supply chains. This helps their businesses, but it is far from sufficient to fulfil the sales growth potential of the entire value chain. Regardless of sales channel, this is the fundamental problem in the expanding the commercialization of the Serbian vegetables VC, and it must be addressed. The competitive system solution to this problem is a dedicated, large-scale program to build local level processor-producer/co-op networks, in vegetables VCs across Serbia. These networks will develop action plans to expand yields of commercial vegetable crops, including a substantial upgrading and widening of hectares under modern greenhouse facilities, to build out the cold/cool collection and storage chain and associated logistics, and to connect producers to processors with long-term, win-win business relationships. Project is well-positioned to support these and other major initiatives to address the commercial quantity/quality challenge. Other product and productivity issues that we can effectively address through systemic approaches are related to product development, processing technologies, product quality and safety, traceability, and certification. Project can organize more systematic and accessible connections between technical consultants and processors for these needs. > Connection to markets. As commercial quantities of vegetables and vegetable processed products find their way to value-added aggregators and processors, they must be introduced to a substantially wider buyer network. Continuous market diagnostic capacity building will be one of the key drivers for systemic change and triggers for investment catalysed by the project, while focusing on particular brand development fresh, processed and frozen channels for: – Export markets – Domestic and regional retailers – HORECA market The project will ensure it builds on the progress made, for example through the facilitation of the USAID REG project. Smaller and medium-sized processors interviewed, mostly preoccupied with securing sufficient farm product, lacked market information and any real capacity to expand their connections beyond their traditional local or regional buyers. Even larger vegetables processors lacked marketing capacities and expressed a need for more buyer connections, especially for the fresh market, which is specialized.

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When it comes to new marketing initiatives, such as in fresh or organic products, the challenges are greater, but this project is in a position to help address them. For example, a national logo for Serbian organic products has been adopted, but is still not sufficiently promulgated or recognized although these products are becoming more promoted in an organized way through supermarkets. Serbian food product branding in general needs to be dramatically advanced, especially for products where it has recognized and established performance benchmarks. To address such issues, the Project will catalyze a marketing network through a local implementing partner, as the agency for performing through market diagnostics and expanding market connections, whose sole responsibility is to serve as a central point to assist and represent Serbian processors in market research and information, promotion of their products, and closing sustainable sales contracts. The network will be established in partnership with Serbian Development Agency (RAS), or PKS, the two most suitable entities to perform this type of service, while closely involving effective associations, such as Serbia Organica and others, to focus and intensify sales support activities. An effort by GIZ to organize, in collaboration with educational institutions, training of managers in export marketing and sales, can be leveraged in this process. This approach can lead to development of a platform for improved CLA and coordination among stakeholders. This diagnostic approach to marketing and market channel development will be the key to establishing appropriate financial services support packages (from both public and banking sectors) as well as building organizational and workforce development programs. Scale Potential The vegetables VC has substantial scale. We estimate that at least 200 processors of one sort or another, and there are over 200,000 farmers growing vegetables for many whose harvests cannot be mechanized. As seen in Table 1, the vegetables processing industry also has a relatively high jobs/value added ratio, so that if sales could achieve the €100 million growth potential suggested above, approximately 5,000 new jobs could be created.6

Fruits The major fruits grown in Serbia are raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, plums, and cherries. There are others, including apricots and peaches, but production is limited and it is geared towards competition with more established markets such as Turkey, where climatic conditions are more suitable for growing. Apples and pears are also not given a high priority. Apples are well- established and competitive, with large export markets, although heavy reliance on exports to Russian Federation could present a challenge in the future. Pears have not been expanding in terms of growing areas and investments at par with apples and potential for increased sales of both fresh and processed products remains limited. The big story in the fruit sector is that over the past 10 years, thanks in no small part to USAID assistance, Serbia has established itself as a powerhouse in the international market for soft fruits. The country is now the world’s largest exporter of frozen raspberries, second largest producer of plums, and the growth in exports of raspberries is a major reason that Serbia is a net food exporter. While this may suggest that the industry is successful and does not need development assistance,

6 This assumes a processor value added / sales ratio of 75%.

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our findings provide different conclusion. We believe that what has been accomplished provides a strong foundation on which to diversify and innovate products and processing of all of the major soft fruits, so that it is in fact only the beginning of realizing the potential of this sector. Sales Growth Potential Fruit products can be frozen, dried/freeze-dried, pasteurized into jams, or sold fresh. So far, Serbia’s development of this VC has been almost entirely in the frozen product, and that is mostly bulk-packed, with little value added. Frozen fruit exports are 10 times larger than exports for fresh. Frozen berries are very good business, consisting of approximately 10 medium- to large and close to 250 small private cold storage businesses buying from some 30,000 farmers, selling mainly to Germany and Switzerland and other EU countries. The frozen raspberry business will continue to grow, though probably at slower rates than the average of the past decade. The greatest potential for substantial sales growth in fruits is in (i) fresh and (ii) processed, mainly premium/ traditional/organic products. As we noted under vegetables, fresh fruits are considered processed/value added products, because of their extensive further treatment in careful, sometimes technology-assisted sorting, treatment for shelf life, cooling, packaging, and shipping, enabling it to obtain premium pricing. The opportunity is primarily in exports, but the domestic market is also significant, especially for example in organic, where demand is growing rapidly in urban areas. There are several companies which have diversified already into sales of fresh produce and their experiences will be leveraged to educated the rest of the sector in opportunities in more advanced processing techniques. The following table summarizes the business results of the 21 companies we interviewed in the fruits value chain, organized by firm size. It shows the strong recent and expected sales growth trends.

Table 4: Berries Value Chain - Interviewed Companies Statistics Firm Size #Companies Sales €MM Growth (average) Total Avg Range 2014-16 2017 2018-20 Micro & Small 14 35 2.4 0.1 – 4.7 15% 18% 10-15% Medium 7 99 14.1 6.8 – 20.1 15% 10% 10-15% Total 21 134

Fresh fruits The international market in fresh soft fruits is growing strongly. Preliminary market research, as well as the views of interviewees, suggest many sales opportunities in Europe, especially in fresh raspberries and blueberries. Few Serbian processors are pursuing these opportunities, but there are some exceptions (see box), indicating substantial potential, if buyer connections can be established and marketable varieties can be delivered at premium quality. This is the key to the sector growth – educating the industry on opportunities in sectors other than frozen, and establishing linkages between reputable buyers and organized industry in order to stimulate differentiated processing production, more investments and stronger brand recognition.

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Of about $380 million in Serbia berry exports in 2016, 92% was frozen product – less than $30 million was fresh. This suggests a strong farm product base with a major untapped processor market opportunity.

Success in Fresh Raspberry Exports Other studies, most notably and recently the CEVES report produced for PKS, identified fresh berries as having the Agroplus from Djurdjevo in Vojvodina is greatest sales growth potential of all food processing value pioneering fresh raspberry sales. Its primary chains. business has previously been production (own and contract) and trade of fresh Processed premium soft fruit products vegetables. It saw a market opportunity in replicating this model for fresh, high-quality, While exports of processed fruit products in 2016 were handpicked raspberries, to provide to its valued at $61 million, the great majority of this was in juices buyers in Hungary and France. Instead of and juice concentrates, mainly to EU buyers from a few large selling for freezing or processing, the FDI-financed operations, and established Serbian jelly/jam company supported farms in growing high- quality berries and invested in equipment to brands to CEFTA. sort and clean them, and pack them in 250- Instead, along with other assessments, we see the premium gram ready-for-retail plastic containers. The only additional necessary process was to markets for organic and traditional pasteurized and bottled or cool the berries at 2-4oC, in order to extend otherwise packaged fruit products as having the greatest shelf life by 3-5 days. Agroplus is now potential for product development and sales growth, feeding exporting some 100 tons of fresh raspberries into the strongly expanding global market for natural, annually, or about 400,000 small retail packs, healthy, and geo-branded artisanal/ethnic products. The for an average price of €3/kg. domestic, regional, and international HORECA market for these products is substantially underdeveloped, as is distribution to buyers and distributors to major retail chains, all of which now have dedicated aisles for natural/healthy items. Impact Potential In order to realize the substantial sales growth potential that we see in fruits, constraints in two competitiveness areas need to be addressed. > Product and productivity. An advantage of the soft fruits sector, in sharp contrast to the vegetables value chain, is that at least in raspberries and plums, it has already built processor- producer relationships to deliver the large quantities of consistent-quality product necessary to supply large frozen berry buyers in Western Europe. Cold storage companies have spent more than a decade growing outsourcing networks with farmers in their local areas, and according to our interviewees, these relationships are generally strong and mutually trustful. This is a good foundation on which to develop value chains for new soft berry products, and the project will support further expansion of processor-producer networks. Most of the aggregator/processors’ collection and storage facilities are already HACCP and ISO certified, as they must be, since most of their sales are exports to Europe. This is a good base on which to further improve product quality and production processes. For fresh product, what is needed in this competitiveness area is technical consulting expertise in variety selection and yields; expansion of technologies for cleaning, sorting, packaging to extend shelf life, treatment, and cooling facilities; and improvement and deepening of logistics services, including public roads, rail, and even air. For processing into premium fruit-based

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products, which can include dried and freeze-dried as well as pasteurized additional technical assistance is needed, in product development and particularly in developing organic lines. As in vegetables, project networks must collaborate closely with the producer sector, including encouragement of Producer Organizations (POs), to incentivise farmers to expand the range and quantity of varieties needed for processors’ premium fresh and processed product buyers. Through its systemic approach to facilitate local processor-producer working groups in response to new market opportunities, the project will be able to prioritize and address these product and productivity issues with public and private sector stakeholders. > Connection to markets. As in vegetables, substantial, organized, and centralized effort must be invested in researching, identifying, and developing markets for fresh and processed premium soft fruit products, so that processors can focus on working with their outgrowers and perfecting their products. Since many of the large distributors and buyers of fresh soft fruits are the same as those for fresh vegetables, and since marketing channels for premium/organic/traditional span product types, we believe that the soft fruits value chain and he vegetables value chain can share a common marketing network organization, to serve essentially as a research, information, and sales agency, as described above. Here, impact potential is introducing processors to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) markets, beyond their current channels for frozen product. Packaging and branding are underdeveloped and offer opportunity for impact. Both fresh and processed fruit products from Serbia are conducive to a Grower Collaboration in Fruits country-of-origin branding initiative that would promote an image of healthiness, cleanliness, and quality. Voćko is a producer cooperative in Tavankut consisting of 32 farmers growing hard and As for business relationships in the sector, while formal soft fruits. They commonly store and sell purchase contracts between fruit producers and aggregators their products to final buyers. Not only are uncommon, the long period over which this industry has economizing through joint purchasing of inputs, this has also given them the grown has generated trust and mutually reliable business opportunity to address bigger buyers. They relationships. Nevertheless, there is room to develop more have also made a first joint investment, in formal long-term processor-grower contracting. Some shared ULO cold storage, and plan to aggregators are working with producers in providing continue with acquisition of calibrating production inputs, and are starting or expanding their own equipment to simplify the sorting process and decrease costs. They also collaborated in fruit growing. There are also some examples of fruit engaging a fruit production specialist to help producers we interviewed cooperating among themselves to with product standardization and traceability. deliver the quantities and qualities that processors and buyers need (box). Scale Potential Like vegetables, the scale potential of the fruits value chain is very large. We estimate that the VC has some 250 collectors or processors, and can build on the well-organized outgrower network of some 30,000 raspberry farmers. Soft fruits require a relatively high level of manual labor activities, meaning that sales expansion can lead to significant job creation.

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Dairy The dairy industry in Serbia is large, in terms of both processors and their farm-level milk suppliers. For this reason, it was seriously considered as a candidate value chain. We visited 25 milk producers and milk processors including micro dairies milking fewer than 20 cows, small and medium-sized dairies processing 3 – 10 tons of milk per day and several larger milk processors processing daily from 10 – 50 tons of milk. In Table 5 we analysed sales and growth rate of a total of 33 Serbian dairies including the three largest Serbian commercial milk companies buying from thousands of farms that account for over half of the market of this VC.

Table 5: Dairy Value Chain Interviewees Business Summary Firm Size #Cos Sales €MM Growth (annual average) Total Avg Range 2014-16 2017 2018-20 Micro and Small 21 52 2.4 0.02-9.2 6% 0-5% 0-5% Medium 9 146 16.2 7.5-30 -5% -3% -5-0% Large 3 332 110 45-228 5% 6% 0-5% Total 33 530

Sales Growth Potential While diary ranks as the fourth largest of all food processing sectors, at about €600 million in annual sales its sales growth potential is effectively limited to that of overall population or broad economic growth, because the main products, liquid milk and standard cheeses, are such essential/basic foods. Furthermore, dairy products, especially liquid, have a limited feasible geographic market range, because they are inexpensive but heavy, meaning that beyond a certain distance radius, the cost of transportation makes them uncompetitive with milk produced in farther localities. Over 90% of Serbian dairy products are sold in Serbia, and the only exports of any magnitude go to Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia. In sum, the market for the main dairy products is slow-growing in general, plus almost entirely domestic. The systemic support for this sector would resemble the approach applied to F&V, with market segmenation focused more on domestic and regional markets, but would present difficulties in terms of a sales potential and approach testing that the Project is searching for. Under the Stabilisation and Accession Agreement (SAA), the market for dairy is fairly open with the EU – as long as sanitary standards are met, which they are not the case for much of the Serbian industry. This means that imports of processed dairy products flow in from the EU, creating a difficult competitive situation for import substitution. It’s worthwhile to note that our 1600 plus regional brand certificates in the EU, more than half belongs to dairy products, showcasing major institutional support to this sector. We did consider the possibility of premium sub-products in dairy, in particular sheep and goat milk and cheeses, both regular and organic, as a pilot VC. These products certainly do feed a strong global market channel. However, we found very few processors currently in this business in Serbia – probably fewer than 10, and all quite small companies – so that there would be a very narrow base on which to build sales over the term of the Project.

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Impact Potential Our findings as to sales growth potential also influence impact potential. > Product and productivity. Dairy market in Serbia currently offers little prospect of differentiated product development. The three very large milk companies do continuously develop new products, such as fruit yogurts. The business of the rest of the dairies, however, is mainly liquid milk and simple fermented products, such as liquid and semi-hard yogurts and sour creams, although regional branding is becoming more established in this sector of the industry A significant product quality challenge is the large share of the industry that is accounted for by very small farms with only a few cows supplying small dairies, and it’s very difficult to maintain sanitary standards and stay competitive in that environment. While promulgation and enforcement of these standards are widening, this is a process that will take years. > Connection to markets. Milk processors in Serbia know their buyers, who are mostly domestic plus a few in immediate regional markets. Setting aside the limited prospect of premium cheeses development, which would require better connections to international buyers, retail and HORECA, processors in this value chain do not need assistance in this area. USAID and the GoS have supported the improvement of the dairy industry in Serbia for many years, in milk cow quality and yield and cold chains, for both economic growth and social reasons, and this continues, and we do see potential in replicating our approaches to this sector in the future, especially in developing premium and artisan products impact. Scale Potential Dairy processing currently has significant scale in terms of the number of SMEs affected, since it consists of over 110 firms and buys from approximately 50,000 farmers. However, the industry is consolidating. The table above shows that sales in the mid-sized dairy sector have been contracting, and that this trend is expected to continue. We expect the three very large processors to continue to gradually overtake the industry, and that the future of the industry is steady decline in the number of medium and smaller processors. Speaking to this, Imlek recently acquired Suboticka mlekara. Dairy processing is a large employer, with over 6,000 workers currently. Furthermore, the jobs- to-sales ratio is dairy is fairly high (Table 1), but since sales growth potential is so limited, prospects for job growth are as well. Since the industry is also consolidating into the larger operators with higher productivity, it is quite possible that employment in the industry will be no bigger in four years’ time than it is today.

MAPs and NWFPs We combined medicinal and aromatic plants and non-wood forest products into a candidate value chain, given the strong global market growth for these products.

Table 6: MAPs and NWFPs Interviewees Business Results Firm Size #Companies Sales €MM Growth (annual average) Total Avg Range 2014-16 2017 2018-20

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Micro and Small 12 10.2 0.85 0.01-2.1 3% 6% 0-5% Medium 2 7.3 3.6 2.8-4.5 -10% -5% -5-0% Total 14 17.5

Sales Growth Potential Medicinal and aromatic plants – rosemary, juniper, basil, echinacea, etc. – feed vibrant export markets for cosmetics and medicinal products. Juniper oil, for example, is the basis of cleaning products for sterilization of hospital surfaces. NWFPs, especially forest mushrooms and berries, have good domestic and regional markets. Sales growth potential in these products is strong. However, we found that the base on which growth would occur is very small for a project deliver visible impact that could serve as a learning point for other subsectors The table above substantially overstates this base, because up to three-fourths of the value indicated is in teas, whose markets are low-value and much slower-growing, probably accounting for the moderately negative recent and expected business results of the two medium-sized companies interviewed in this value chain. Impact Potential There is impact potential in MAPs and NWFPs, but the base is small. > Product and productivity. Setting aside teas, almost all MAPs and NWFPs produced in Serbia are sold in unprocessed or minimally-processed form. Processing equipment is expensive, representing a barrier to growth. There are only two processors (distillers) of essential oils, a very high-value product. Even when dried, practices are quite basic – essentially open-air – meaning that the product is sold without higher microbiological safety standards. The same largely applies to NWFPs, many of which are sold at roadside or in open air markets. There is impact potential in introducing knowledge and advanced technologies in sorting, cleaning, drying, storage, packing, and shipping, but these would start at the beginning on a small base, and would require substantial investment. At the same time, the natural resource base for such products in the wild is actually limited, and there is a risk of overharvesting, limiting potential growth. A systemic support intervention would thus be focused on supporting brand and premium products development, but again, the scale and sale potential are not in line with project’s targets. > Connection to markets. The international markets for processed MAPs, especially, is strong, and current producers’ buyer relationships are limited, so that there is impact potential for the Project in connecting processors to export buyers. However, the organization of producers and processors in this sector is limited and presents an obstacle to improvements in market linkages and this could be another critical point to address if/when the Project approach is replicated. Scale Potential > Aside from teas, there are fewer than 25 processors of MAPs and NWFPs in Serbia, employing less than 200 people full-time. The value chain does, however, sustain many more independent seasonal workers, who gather these plants and products from the wild. Nevertheless, scale potential is limited over the term of the project.

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Honey Though it was not originally a candidate sector, we did consider the potential for honey as possibly a third focus value chain, and interviewed six honey processors.

Table 7: Honey Value Chain Interviewees Business Results Firm Size #Cos Sales €MM Growth (annual average) Total Avg Range 2014-16 2017 2018-20 Micro & Small 6 10.6 1.6 0.7-6.0 25% 10% 10-20%

Sales Growth Potential The international demand for honey is steadily growing, and Serbian honey does well in the market, as the business results of our interviewed companies indicates. However, the continued growth of sales depends on a continuous increase in the number of beekeepers, because the number of hives that an individual beekeeper can handle is ultimately limited. The number of hives doubled from 2007-2015, but has levelled off since then. This is a problem for the industry, because beekeeping is not a field that attracts many young people into it. Also, even if growing, the total sales volume of the value chain is small. The six processors that we interviewed, whose total sales were about €14 million in 2015, represent over 90% of the industry. Around 30% of total quantity is sold at ‘green markets’ and through ‘door-to-door’ sales). Even given the relatively strong growth rates that they expect, the absolute value of the potential increase is not large, given project’s goals. Finally, as it is, sales in the industry are highly variable from year to year, depending enormously on weather. The reason for the very high recent growth rates seen in the table is that production in the prior years was unusually low, for weather-related reasons. Production in 2016 was half of what it was in 2015. Impact Potential There is some potential for impact in processing improvements – the average yield per hive is only about two-thirds of the average of EU countries. There is also room to simplify food safety certification procedures for individual beekeepers to be able to sell honey to small stores, instead of only on greenmarkets or roadside. As for markets, there is potential for expanding sales internationally, but domestic and regional buyers are already well-known. The main issue for marketing is that whatever is done, the weather- related variability of honey production will dominate any impact that the project could have. Collaboration among honey producers is a positive. The industry associations, Beekeeping Association of Serbia (SPOS) and Beekeeping Association of Vojvodina (SPOV), are effective in organizing advisory assistance to beekeepers and numerous regular sales fairs around the countries. Scale Potential There are no more than 10 significant honey processors in Serbia. The six processors that we interviewed employ only 58 people. Only because there are over 30,000 beekeepers in Serbia does the sector recommend itself as to scale potential, but we do not expect much growth in this number.

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Recommendation of Value Chains for Selection All VCs/sub-sectors evaluated present an opportunity for Serbia to more aggressively develop and professionalize its’ processing industry, branding and market presence in both domestic and foreign markets. In order for this to happen, there are several critical steps in comprehensive support to the industry that need to happen:

1. Capacity for systemic analysis of markets for each product/VC needs to be developed and regularly conducted in order for industry to stay current with market trends and opportunities. Diagnostic analytics have to cover not only export markets, but domestic retail and HORECA markets, and need to be conducted in partnership with the industry leaders in order to allow for market driven industry grouping and unified brand creation. The main funder and idea ‘generator’ of/in industry in Serbia is the industry itself and exposure to market channels is critical to trigger investment in new product lines. 2. Coordination between i) financial service providers, including public and private, needs to improve to tailor support packages to respond to these market opportunities, ii) technical service providers need to be profiled and certified, and iii) industry stakeholders themselves need to be mobilized to actively participate in this process and assume leadership role in brand development, protection and promotion. 3. Collaborative learning needs to follow this entire process as an integrated platform for communication and adaption to shifting opportunities, and to produce empirical and anecdotal references for critical policy adjustments. It is this process itself that will ensure that only those efforts that are relevant to and adopted by the industry are selected and supported by the project.

Fruits and vegetables have been selected as the pilot food processing value chains for testing this approach due to their potential to showcase success in systemic approach relatively quickly, while, establishing a pattern to be replicated in other subsectors of the food industry. Both of these obviously require upgrading supported by public, credit, educational and industry stakeholders, but we believe that the kinds of improvements and learning can be stimulated by Project. Both also encompass sizeable numbers of SME processors, relatively high job creation impact as sales expand, and tens of thousands of farmer suppliers, so development impact is guaranteed as well The next step in our process will be to focus on VC activity planning with key stakeholders, where we will further refine the range of sub-products to select those that promise highest market impact, while having the greatest sales impact per dollar of USAID investment. This process itself will be the begging of the systemic capacity building effort, showcasing importance of coordinated analysis, selection, support, promotion and branding of key products and value chains to build reputation of the overall food sector in Serbia as well as those individual products. Throughout this process, we will remain open to adding additional VCs to project portfolio in case that our approach proves effective and delivers results faster than currently anticipated, or market opportunities are revelled. This will set the standards for collaborative learning and adaptive management which will be integrated into entire four year effort of the Project.

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Table 8: Summary Rating of Candidate Value Chains

Sales Growth Potential (40%) CEP Impact Potential (40%)l Scale Potential (20%) Total Score

Vegetables › Very large international markets for both fresh › Substantial widening and deepening of producer-processor › Hundreds of SME processors and pasteurized collaboration can drive farm sector to expand quantities of high- › High employment / sales ratio › Significant potential for import substitution quality vegetables delivered to processors › 200,000+ farm suppliers › Significant potential in premium / traditional / › Facilitation of finance for farm level commercialization, processor organic niche equipment and working capital investments, and logistical infrastructure 10 › Support for productivity improvement and certification › Organized and focused market research, information, and promotion can expand international buyer connections 4 4 2 Fruits › Very large untapped regional and international › Large production base on which to build high-quality fresh varieties › Hundreds of SME processors markets for fresh, building on large established › Facilitation of finance for farm level commercialization, processor › High employment / sales ratio product base in raspberries equipment and working capital investments, and logistical › 20,000+ farm suppliers › Significant potential for processed in premium / infrastructure traditional/organic niche › Support for productivity improvement and certification 10 › Organized and focused market research, information, and promotion can expand international buyer connections 4 4 2 MAPs and NWFPs › Good global market potential in cosmetics and › Facilitation of finance for processor equipment investments › Small number of SMEs medicinal industries, and for specialty fresh › Focused marketing › Job creation impact in processors low products, but very few processors and sales › Support for certification › Potential for several thousand outsourced 6 base is small gatherer jobs 2 3 1 Dairy › The industry is dominated by milk, whose › Promulgation and adoption of needed safety standards a long-term › Industry is consolidating; number of SME growth rate is limited to overall population process dairies declining › Premium cheese and sheep/goat dairy products › Limited scope for product development, except at very large › Job creation impact in processors low are promising, but current production base is processors, who are doing it on their own, and at a handful of › Large number of farm suppliers 5 very small, limiting volume of sales growth artisanal producers, 2 2 1

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Sales Growth Potential (40%) CEP Impact Potential (40%)l Scale Potential (20%) Total Score

Honey › International market is growing, but Serbian › Productivity improvement possible, but little product development › Small number of processors; employment honey processing industry is small potential low › Sales depend on production, which is highly › Limited need to expand buyer connections › Large number of beekeeper suppliers 3 variable year-to-year, depending on weather 1 1 1

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Annex 1: Interviewed Companies

# Company Name Sector Size 1 IMLEK AD, Beograd Dairy large 2 Somboled, Sombor Dairy large 3 Mlekara Subotica, Subotica Dairy large 4 Mlekara Sabac, Sabac Dairy medium 5 Meggle Srbija, Kragujevac Dairy medium 6 Niska Mlekara, Nis Dairy medium 7 Mlekoprodukt, Zrenjanin Dairy medium 8 Milkop, Raska Dairy medium 9 Lazar, Blace Dairy medium 10 Granice, Mladenovac Dairy medium 11 Kuc Company Dairy medium 12 Mlekara Leskovac, Leskovac Dairy medium 13 PK Zlatibor, Zlatibor Dairy small 14 Eko-mlek, Kaonik Dairy small 15 Ekofil, Beograd Dairy small 16 Master Milk, Blace Dairy small 17 Fass, Sjenica Dairy small 18 Biomlek, Priboj Dairy small 19 Mlekara Pancevo, Pancevo Dairy small 20 Mlekara Moravica, Arilje Dairy small 21 Mlekara Maestro, Sakule Dairy small 22 Mlekara Loznica, Loznica Dairy small 23 Beocapra, Sid Dairy small 24 Select milk, Indjija Dairy small 25 DiS Todorovic, Razanj/Nis Dairy micro 26 Beni Komerc, Sjenica Dairy small 27 Mlekara Ub (dr Milk), Ub Dairy small 28 Mlekara Rtanj, Boljevac Dairy micro 29 Mlekara Kacarevic, Mionica Dairy micro 30 Zelenika Plus, Zlatibor Dairy micro 31 Mlekara Stara Planina, Dimitrovgrad Dairy small 32 Homoljka, Pozarevac Dairy micro 33 DE Kaasmaker, Beograd** Dairy micro 34 Jugprom, Leskovac Berry medium 35 Elixir Food, Sabac Berry medium

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# Company Name Sector Size 36 Mondi Lamex, Kraljevo Berry medium 37 Podgorina Frucht, Osecina Berry medium 38 Voceprodukt, Brus Berry medium 39 Sirogojno Company, Sirogojno Berry medium 40 Agro-nik, Arilje Berry micro 41 Kotikom, Arilje Berry micro 42 Janeks, Brus Berry micro 43 PureBerry, Beograd Berry micro 44 Strela, Leskovac Berry small 45 Fortis, Beograd/Bojnik Berry medium 46 Sonder-Dux, Turekovac Berry small 47 Coja promet, Aleksinac Berry small 48 ABD Prom, Sabac Berry small 49 Lipkom, Sabac Berry small 50 Frigo paun, Pozega Berry small 51 Miralex Fruits, Cacak Berry small 52 Nomil promet, Arilje Berry small 53 Sweet Home, Brus Berry small 54 Eco Food, Kursumlija Berry small 55 Frigonais d.o.o., Nis F&V small 56 GMP Jarmenovci d.o.o., Jarmenovci F&V small 57 PDM Agro Fruit d.o.o., Grocka F&V small 58 Dzervin d.o.o., Knjazevac F&V medium 59 Nectar, Backa Palanka F&V large 60 Fresh & Co, Subotica F&V medium 61 Sljivko Healthy Food, Arandjelovac F&V small 62 Agranela, Valjevo F&V small 63 Alvasari, Beograd F&V small 64 Poljootkup, Cacak F&V micro 65 ABC Food, Ruski Krstur F&V medium 66 Zdravo Organic, Selenca F&V small 67 Rauch Serbia, Bresnica F&V large 68 Foodland, Brus/Beograd F&V medium 69 Fruvita, Lunjavac F&V medium 70 Biofoodex, Trstenik F&V small 71 SD, Martonos F&V small 72 Telek paprika, Martonos F&V medium

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# Company Name Sector Size 73 D.V.A. Sagal (Agrar), Kraljevci F&V small 74 MDD Group, Kac F&V medium 75 Grow Rasad, Novi Sad F&V micro 76 Iceberg Salat Centar, Beograd F&V small 77 Aretol, Novi Sad (Magnit) F&V medium 78 Frikom, Beograd F&V large 79 Planter, Irig F&V small 80 Sigma AZ, Beograd/Ruma F&V small 81 Van Drunen Farms, B. Karadjordjevo F&V medium 82 Bag & Deko, Backo Gradiste F&V small 83 Polo, Cacak F&V micro 84 Lucic-Prigrevica, Novi Sad F&V medium 85 Desing, Knjazevac/Beograd F&V small 86 Medino d.o.o., Krnjevo Honey small 87 AZA d.o.o., Novi Sad Honey small 88 Timomed, Knjazevac Honey small 89 Biodvig, Kragujevac Honey micro 90 Maja Promet, Beograd Honey small 91 Apicase Honey d.o.o., Belanovica Honey micro 92 Herba d.o.o., Beograd MAPs small 93 Bilje Borca d.o.o., Beograd MAPs small 94 Macval Tea d.o.o. Novi Sad MAPs small 95 Macval d.o.o. Novi Sad MAPs small 96 Fructus d.o.o., Backa Palanka MAPs medium 97 Sanicula Co d.o.o., Paracin MAPs small 98 Interfood S 80 d.o.o., Lebane MAPs micro 99 Melissa d.o.o., Novi Sad MAPs micro 100 Herba medica d.o.o., Prokupje MAPs micro 101 Adonis d.o.o., Sokobanja MAPs small 102 Jeligor d.o.o., Svrljig MAPs small 103 Amerovit d.o.o., Zitoradja MAPs micro 104 Jadar-pak d.o.o. (Welton), Osecina MAPs small 105 Alternativa Medica d.o.o., Loznica MAPs medium

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Annex 2: Interviewed Institutions

No. Institution name Location Name, title of contact 1 Faculty of Economics, Subotica Subotica Prof. Dr. Rade Popovic 2 Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade Belgrade Prof. Dr. Vlade Zaric 3 Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade Belgrade Asst. Prof. Dr. Stevan Canak 4 Belgrade wholesale fruit and vegetable market Belgrade Veletrznica Beograd d.o.o. 5 Ministry of Agriculture Belgrade Tomislav Topalovic, Advisor 6 Ministry of Agriculture Novi Sad Radivoj Nadlacki, Advisor for Agriculture Policy 7 Ministry of Agriculture Belgrade Zoran Janjatovic, Deputy Minister 8 “MOBA” Non-governmental Organization Ljig Mile Busic 9 Veterinary Station Sabac Dr. Davor Sasic 10 Agricultural Extension Service Sabac Milorad Jockovic, Headk Fruits and Vegetables 11 Agricultural Extension Service Pozarevac Aleksandar Stojanovic, Director 12 Agricultural Extension Service Pirot Ljubisa Djordjevic, Plant production and protection 13 US Embassy Belgrade, Department of Agriculture Belgrade Tatjana Buric Maslac (USDA/FAS) 14 Vojvodina Organic Cluster Novi Sad Milos Rajkovic 15 Cluster of fruit and vegetable processors Panonia Kucura Sergej Vujacic/Slobodan Teofanov 16 Association of collectors, producers and processors of Belgrade Mirko Oluski MAPS 17 Intesa Bank Novi Sad Djordje Radulovic 18 Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture Novi Sad Marko Rovcanin 19 Provincial Secretariat for Economy and Tourism Novi Sad Branislav Bandic 20 Agriculture Development Fund of Vojvodina Novi Sad Aleksandar Bogdanovic 21 Guarantee Fund Vojvodina Novi Sad Djordje Rakovic 22 Development Fund of Vojvodina Novi Sad Snezana Repac 23 Belgrade Igor Novakovic, Advisor, Director of Agriculture Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) and Food processing Sector 24 Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) Belgrade Zeljko Sertic, Advisor 25 Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) Belgrade Ana Zegarac, Director 26 Association of Agriculture Engineers Agroznanje Vrsac Snezana Kremic 27 Extension services of Vojvodina Novi Sad Aleksandar Davidov 28 Vojvodina Agrarian Association Becej Dejan Vrebalov 29 Veterinarian Institute Kraljevo N/A 30 Regional Development Agency SEDA Novi Pazar N/A 31 MOUPU – Union of Agriculture Associations (Novi Novi Pazar N/A Pazar, Sjenica, Tutin) 32 Regional Center for Agriculture Development Sjenica N/A 33 Local Center for SME Development Prijepolje N/A

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No. Institution name Location Name, title of contact 34 Regional Development Agency (ARRA) Krusevac N/A 35 Center for Development Jablanicki and Pcinjski District Leskovac N/A 36 Ministry of Economy Belgrade Katarina Obradovic Jovanovic, Deputy Minister 37 Vojvodina Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry Novi Sad. Vuk Radojevic 38 WM Equity Partners Belgrade Vladimir Pavlovic, Director 39 WM Equity Partners Belgrade Milos Savic, Partner 40 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Belgrade Sanja Borkovic, Analyst (EBRD) 41 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Belgrade (EBRD) Daniel Berg, Country Director 42 Belgrade Dusko Vasiljevic, Private Sector Development World Bank Group Specialist 43 World Bank Group Belgrade Vesna Kopanja, Consultant 44 UniCredit Bank Belgrade Zeljko Kisic, Head of Mid Market 45 Belgrade Milena Perazic, Treasury Department, Specialist Banca Intesa for Financial Institutions 46 Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), State Belgrade Armino Rosic, National Programme Officer Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) 47 SEAF Opportunity Serbia Fund Belgrade Nikola Stefanovic, Director General 48 Serbian Association of Managers (SAM) Belgrade Jelena Bulatovic, Executive Director 49 Belgrade Olivera Kostic, Sector Manager for UNOPS/European PROGRES Competitiveness 50 UNOPS/European PROGRES Belgrade Marko Vujacic, National Programme Manager 51 Belgrade Tatjana Mrvaljavic, Programme Officer for UNOPS/European PROGRES Competitiveness 52 Belgrade Milan Martinovic, Head of operation for Shop&Go Ahold Delhaize Serbia format 53 Societe Generale Serbia Belgrade Zoran Zunjic, Corporate Area Manager 54 SIPPO (Swiss Import Promotion Programme) Belgrade Ljiljana Rsumovic, Export Promotion Manager 55 National Association for Organic Production Belgrade Ivana Simic, General Secretary 56 Belgrade Tamara Dundjerovic, Center for Support to Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) Investments and PPPs 57 Belgrade Aleksandar Kemives, Center for Support to Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) Investments and PPPs 58 Belgrade Vladimir Jovanovic, Center for Support to Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) Investments and PPPs 59 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Belgrade Milos Milovanovic, Consultant, Investment Centre Nationals (FAO) Division 60 Elit Agro Belgrade Nikola Vracar, CEO 61 Bakina tajna Belgrade Vaso Lekic, Advisor 62 National Association of Bankers Belgrade N/A

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No. Institution name Location Name, title of contact 63 Nectar LLC (beverage company) Belgrade Ana Radun, Deputy CEO 64 Nectar LLC (beverage company) Belgrade Mihailo Jankovic, CEO 65 Nectar LLC (beverage company) Belgrade Valentina McReynolds, CFO 67 GIZ Private Sector Development in Serbia Project Belgrade Tomislav Knezevic, Senior Project Manager 68 Republic of Serbia Innovation Fund Belgrade Natalija Sandic, Program Manager 69 Vlada Vukotic, Manager of Product Development Opportunity bank Novi Sad Department 70 Opportunity bank Novi Sad Dejan Milovanovic, Agro Program Manager 71 Fresh raspberry export company Novi Sad Branislav Terzic, Owner 72 Belgrade Biljana Popovic –Jovanovic, Programme Manager EU Delegation to Serbia for SMEs, Competitiveness, Innovations 73 Belgrade Dejan M. Šuvakov, Programme Manager for EU Delegation to Serbia SMEs, Competitiveness, Innovations

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Annex 3: References Anonymous (2009): Agribusiness Handbook – Milk / Dairy Products. FAO and EBRD, 49 pp. Anonymous (2014): Republic of Serbia, IPARD Programme 2014-2020. From the web site: http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/3/2015/EN/3-2015-257-EN-F1-1-ANNEX-2.PDF, 292 pp. Anonymous (2016): Serbia – Agribusiness Report. Prepared by: FCS and FAS, US Embassy Belgrade, from the web site: https://www.export.gov/article?id=Serbia-Agribusiness Anonymous (2016): Raspberry Report. Government of the Republic of Serbia, 3 pp. Branislav Vlahovic (2015): Market of agricultural products – special part. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, 339 pp. CEVES (2016): Value Chain Performance Analysis – Food Processing Sector, Serbia. Export.gov (USA), Serbia Country Commercial Guide: Serbia Agribusiness https://www.export.gov/article?id=Serbia-Agribusiness , July 2016 Garron Hansen, Stephen Goss, Zlatko Jovanovic, Darko Lojen (2015): Overview of the Agricultural Extension Services in the Republic of Serbia and Recommendations for the Future. USAID / Serbia, 124 pp. Internet article: Export of Milk Blocked by Quality Standards, http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/ekonomija/aktuelno/izvoz-mleka-koce-standardi-kvaliteta_637873.html Ivana Simic (2017): Organic Agriculture in Serbia: at a glance. Belgrade, editor: Zagorka Markovic, National Association Serbia Organica - 2017, Europromet, Novi Sad, 59 pp. Josip Jurcak (2016): We calculated for you: How much money you need for a commercial greenhouse. Agrobiz/Agrosavjeti web site: http://www.agrobiz.hr/agrosavjeti/koliko-je-novca-potrebno- za-dobar-plastenik-izracunali-smo-za-vas-490 Maxima Consulting for Ministry of Agriculture (2017): Sector Analysis including SWOT Analysis for Food Industry in Serbia. Report is not yet approved and is not for public circulation. Midhat Jasic (2011): Types of CA / ULO Cold Storages. In: Encyclopedia – Technology of Fruits and Vegetables; web site: http://www.tehnologijahrane.com/enciklopedija/tipovi-i-vrste-ca-hladnjaca Rade Popovic (2016): Serbia Dairy Sector and Chain Profile. IFCN Dairy Report 2016, p. 167. Serbia Organica, Serbia Organic Food Production http://www.serbiaorganica.info/wp- content/uploads/2014/01/KatalogSRB72px.pdf , June 2017 Stanislav Zekić, Kristina Mijić, Dejan Jakšić, Ivan Milenković (2016): Profitability Gap in the Milk Production Chain: Evidence from Serbia. Ekonomika Poljoprivrede; Belgrade, 2/2016, p. 485-499. Suzana Neskovic et al. (2016): Bulletin, Information and Advices in Agricultural Production. Agricultural Advisory and Specialist Service Kragujevac, No. 1/2016., Kragujevac, 12 pp. Svetlana Turudija Zivanovic (2015): Organization of Production and Processing of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Serbia. Doctoral dissertation. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, 168 pp.

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Tanjug, PijaceNajjače Tržište u Srbiji. http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2015&mm=01&dd=04&nav_id=943446, April 2015. USAID Business Enabling Project Report (2013): Agricultural Finance in Serbia – Status and Recommendations, 58 pp. Vlade Zarić, Zorica Vasiljević, Nebojša Nedić & Danijela Petković (2013): The marketing strategies of Serbian honey producers. Applied Studies in Agrobusiness and Commerce 7 (2–3), 27-31. Zlatko Jovanovic (2014): Production opportunities for the production of white cheeses, vegetable cheeses and cream cheeses in Serbia. A report for Lefex and Arla Foods, 17 pp. Zoran Keserovic, Nenad Magazin, Aleksandar Kurjakov, Marko Doric, Jovica Gosic (2014): Agricultural Census 2012 – Agriculture in Republic of Serbia – Fruit Growing. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, 94 pp. Zoran Markovic (2007): Fishery Report – Serbia. A report for USDA / US Embassy Belgrade, 51 pp.

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Annex 4: Firm-Level Interview Guide Print one copy of this form for each interview, and use it to guide discussion. General instructions: > Do not hand out the form. Use it to ask questions verbally and record the interviewee’s verbal comments. Handwrite responses in the spaces provided and retain the form for subsequent use in preparing the VC Opportunities Report > Using the guide below, you will first take some general descriptive information, then discuss growth prospects, then obstacles to competitiveness. > We want to stimulate a conversation, not conduct an interrogation. It may not be necessary to ask each and every question in sections II (growth potential) and III (obstacles) below. Once you start talking about these issues in general, simply record the interviewee’s comments in the appropriate box, and you will gather most of the information required. > It should not take more than an hour at each company, including a short tour of the facility I. Business Description and Status Basic Data 1. Business Name, Location

2. Interviewee Name, Position, email, Telephone

Product and Prospects 3. Product(s)

4. Sales & Employ- Sales: Employees: ment Range – < € 100,000 < 10 Actual – 2013 - € € 100,000 – 250,000 10 - 25 € 250,000 – 1,000,000 25 - 50 € 1,000,000 – 2,500,000 50 - 100 € 2,500,000 – 10,000,000 100 - 250 > € 10,000,000 > 250 5. Actual / Expected Last 3 Years (2014-16): This Year (2017): Next 3 Years (2018-20): Annual Sales 0-5% 0-5% 0-5% Growth Range 5-10% 5-10% 5-10% 10-20% 10-20% 10-20%

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Product and Prospects >20% >20% >20% >33% >33% >33% >50% >50% >50%

II. Growth Potential Again, in many cases, all you have to do is ask them to talk about sales, and markets, then record their answers in the proper box below, without necessarily having to go through the questions 1- by-1. So start by saying: “Please talk about your sales and your potential for growth – where are your markets, who are your buyers, what are your opportunities?”

Markets, Buyers, Opportunities 6. What are your domestic Domestic: and/or export markets? (Approximate split between domestic and export, markets and approximate shares within each.) Export:

7. Who are your buyers? Please describe them (aggregator, processor / manufacturer, distributor, agent, retailer, individuals), their locations, number, shares in total sales.

8. How do you promote your firm, market your products, and find new customers? (trade shows, B2B events, reps/agents, direct approach, personal contacts, relatives / friends contacts, word-of-mouth, internet, advertising, etc.)

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Markets, Buyers, Opportunities 9. Where are you looking to expand your sales? What are your best opportunities for growth? (Are there particular new markets you are trying to enter, new products you want to develop, new buyers you want to approach?)

10. Are you aware of your competition? Who is your competition? (Can you name at least three companies that you see as competition? All from Serbia or from abroad?)

11. Please describe your suppliers – formal subcontractors (if any), inputs suppliers, service providers (Approximate number of larger and smaller, domestic and foreign. Approximate share of cost of inputs/services going to domestic suppliers.)

III. Obstacles to Competitiveness Ask the interviewee: We want to find out from you now about the problems and obstacles that you face in trying to take advantage of the opportunities for growth that we have just discussed. Could you talk about that? What are your main challenges in expanding your sales and growing your business? Which are the most important? Let the interviewee speak generally on this, and as he/she speaks, record his/her comments in the appropriate box below. Be sure to get a sense of the degree of importance / priority. Once the interviewee has finished responding generally, then guide him/her through any of the 5 major Competitiveness Areas that have not been addressed to get any further comments. Do not go

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through the Components individually – just review the 5 major areas and record any further comments in the appropriate component boxes for each area. If you are not sure if a comment belongs in one box or another, don’t worry about it – just pick one and be sure to record all substantive comments. 1. Product & Productivity Component Competitiveness Problems / Obstacles Recommendations 1. Product Design, Product Development

2. Production Inputs

3. Quality Management & Certification

4. Technology & Productivity

2. Connection to Markets Component Competitiveness Problems / Obstacles Recommendations 1. Branding & Promotion

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Component Competitiveness Problems / Obstacles Recommendations 2. Marketing & Sales

3. Access to Finance Component Competitiveness Problems / Obstacles Recommendations 1. Financial Sources & Products

2. Financial Management

4. Workforce Component Competitiveness Problems / Obstacles Recommendations 1. Workforce Skills Needs

2. Workforce Development Institutions

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5. Doing Business Environment Component Competitiveness Problems / Obstacles Recommendations 1. Government Rules, Regulations, Taxes

2. Economic Development Policy & Support

IV. Business Relationships Ask the interviewee: Please describe the extent of your collaboration, if any, with other firms and institutions that are related to your business – cluster groups, competitiveness councils, producer organizations, business association strategy planning, public-private dialog, other collaborative working groups. How effective are these in addressing your competitiveness issues to help grow your business?

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