Bio Farm Agrotrade started its activities in Ukraine in 2015 and now it’s known as one of the largest importers and distributors of organic products in Ukraine. This year, the company started to export Ukrainian organic products. The first products are kids’ friendly snacks under MASHA trademark (only for export for now), also crispbreads and other products will be available soon.
We talked to the founder and owner of Bio Farm Agrotrade – French entrepreneur Claude Exbrayat about his experience in Ukraine. The conversation was conducted by Kateryna Shor, coordinator of the OrganicInfo.ua web portal.
Kateryna Shor (KS): Claude, why did you decide to start an organic business in Ukraine? And in general how did your journey in the organic sector begin?
Claude Exbrayat (CE): I saw organic products for the first time as a customer about 30 years ago, in Paris. I still remember the first time I entered an organic shop and my impression was like it was a poor shop, poor assortment, poor apples… I thought…POOR me, why did I come here? After this visit, I’ve decided to speak to a friend with a scientific background who explained me the reality behind organic. I went back and bought these “poor” apples and I understood the difference. Since then, I have tried to use organic products as often as possible.
I came to Ukraine at the beginning of 2015 when the economic crisis was at its peak and decided to start the BIOLOGIC.UA project, which later became the international BIOLOGIC.TV. Before coming to Ukraine, I had good contacts with several people from FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture), which also implemented an organic project in Ukraine at that time, similar to one they have now. They were so excited, so I decided to try!
KS: But still, why did you decide to start your business in Ukraine?
CE: Ukraine is a country where all products should be organic due to rich resources and favorable weather conditions. I saw this project as social with high business potential, despite huge challenges. But I appreciated the moral support from the organic community and FiBL in the early steps.
KS: Did you think about own production or did you plan the business as an import project?
CE: It has never been about import or export. This project is about giving people the possibility to eat differently, eat organic. Hence our motto: Eat different. Eat BIO.
However, «Rome wasn’t built in a day». In 2015, when I arrived, only a few shops offered organic products and mostly dairy, hardly anyone ate organic products. It is a vicious circle: no product no customer, no customer no product.
In a market economy, you have to create the need, propose products to potential buyers. We decided to fill the market and started to import quality organic products massively. Consumers started to buy, other importers followed us, and the domestic market began to grow. Of course, the road was uneven and moving forward was hard and slow, especially, at the start, there were some unpleasant and expensive surprises.
Today, we have a very experienced and stable team, most of the management has been in the company since the beginning – they grew together with the company. We have a solid reputation, satisfied clients, tasty products and reliable partners.
KS: You started recently own production; would you like to grow further as an organic producer and exporter?
CE: We are, therefore, ready for the next step of our development: production for domestic and export markets. I completely share the opinion of Oleksandr Yuschenko (one of the organic pioneers in Ukraine and owner of Galeks-Agro) that a strong domestic basis is necessary prior to expansion abroad. We think, we do have that basis now. We plan to go to more vertical integration, so it may happen that, in the future, we will also become growers.
KS: You have big experience in Ukraine, in different times you had catering, restaurant, café, shop, warehouse, etc. Which of these experiences was the most existing?
CE: You forgot in the list: sponsor and taxpayer. All experiments were interesting, but due to the lack of resources, we had to get rid of some activities. The most exciting is always the next one. So up to now, it’s production, but soon it will be also export.
KS: What do you think about the organic market in Ukraine (you may compare with the past 5-6 years) and how do you see its perspectives in general?
CE: A lot has changed. Customers started to recognize organic products. This is very positive. Unfortunately, some players disappeared, but I can see new players with very interesting and competitive retail products. Organic dairy products are almost on all tables. The retail market is obviously growing.
KS: What are the most interesting products that you imported to Ukraine?
CE: Everyone has his own opinion about the notion of «interesting», our organic matcha tea, soy sauce, cognac pasta, 100% cocoa chocolate bars… may seem to be usual products, but if you try them, you understand they are not. I can’t eat soy sauce in the restaurant anymore after trying our organic one.
KS: Could you share any curious stories with consumers?
CE: First good lesson that I learned was when an old not very well dressed lady came to our shop. We had sometimes homeless visitors coming to pick up some food from us, so not a big surprise. But this one was with a large plastic bag and started to ask about our products. Staff answered patiently and politely her questions about chia seeds, couscous from lentils and chickpeas, our most expensive couscous, sugar-free jams and many others. After explanations, she took a lot of products until she could not hold more products. We looked at each other, wondering how the story would end…
She finally went to the cash desk and while paying, in cash, added very kind words for the lady who had served her. So the lesson was «do not judge people too quickly» and «do not think in stereotypes» – organic products can be interesting and accessible to everyone.
At the photo: Claude Exbrayat with new products under MASHA trademark for the export market.