site.btaBulgaria's Participation in Green Week 2016 Starts with Food Safety Agreement

Bulgaria's Participation in Green Week 2016  Starts with Food Safety Agreement

Berlin, January 15 (BTA Special Correspondent Lyudmila Spassova) - Bulgaria started its participation in the International Green Week Berlin 2016 with the signing of a food safety agreement aimed at improving the analysis and quality of food offered on the Bulgarian market.

The document was signed on Thursday evening by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency Executive Director, Damyan Iliev, and by Prof. Reiner Wittkowski from Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.

Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Vassil Groudev, who heads the Bulgarian delegation at Green Week 2016, Friday told journalists that his country's ambition at this year's edition of the forum is to promote Bulgarian food and conquer new markets.
 
Groudev said that at a Friday meeting with representatives of big German commercial chains, he reached an agreement on a "Bulgarian Week" in April. Traditional Bulgarian stalls will be set up over the month, starting from Berlin.

The Deputy Food Minister also said that Bulgaria will seek a niche on the German market primarily among bio products, wine, fruits, vegetables, bee honey, cheeses, milk and traditional local delicacies with geographical indication. He added that these are the goods on which he and the German chains have reached an agreement.

"Bulgaria wants to sell products on third markets and this is currently our main priority in the context of the Russian embargo," Groudev said. He expressed the hope that a large part of the expected over 400,000 visitors of Green Week 2016 will visit the Bulgarian stall. 

The Bulgarian stall covers an area of 143 sq m and resembles a house from Bulgaria's Revival period. A total of 18 Bulgarian companies show their products ranging from wine, rose liqueur, rose brandy, environmentally friendly juices and honey, Turkish delight, jams, etc.

This is the 27th time that Bulgaria participates in the forum.