Spayka LLC to triple export of agricultural products by late 2015

ArmInfo. Spayka LLC, the largest freight forwarding company in Armenia, which is also engaged in procurement and production of tinned agricultural products, is going to triple the export of agricultural products to 32 thsd tons by the end of 2015, Karen Baghdasaryan, Head of the Project Management Division at Spayka LLC, told journalists on November 7.

He said that in 2014 the company exported 11.5 thsd tons of agricultural products, and in Jan-Oct 2015 it doubled that indicator to 23.4 thsd tons. In particular, the company exported 7.8 thsd tons of cabbage, 2.7 thsd tons of radish, 2.2 thsd tons of apricots, 1.6 thsd tons of grapes, 1.6 thsd tons of pears, 1.1 thsd tons of plums, 0.8 thsd tons of peaches, 0.6 thsd tons of apples. The novelty of the company - for the Armenian market in general - was the export of early potatoes that totaled 1 thsd tons.

"On the whole, the current year has proved to be quite fruitful for agriculture and the company has managed to considerably increase the supplies. We are going to retain similar growth rates in 2016-2017 through attracting additional investments to enlarge the vehicle fleet, create new greenhouse facilities and cooling systems," said Baghdasaryan.    

He noted that the opening of a large enterprise for processing of fresh fruit and vegetables will contribute to this. Spayka LLC has invested about USD 4 million in construction of the enterprise. The capacity of the given processing shop is over 40 mln boxes per annum.  So, the company will be able to purchase 15- 20 thsd tons of fresh fruit, vegetables and berries for processing. The processing shop is equipped with up- to-date Italian facilities. The main products are fruit desserts, beverages, pickled vegetables, which will mostly be supplied to the retail networks of Russia and the CIS. 

At the same time, Baghdasaryan pointed out that the Russian ruble depreciation has delivered a serious blow to the company's business, because the following inadequate depreciation of Armenian dram has resulted in a hike in prices of Armenian products. As a result, the Armenian products have lost their competitive positions on the Russian market, however, the company is taking measures to compensate for the losses though entering new markets.

"We pin big hopes on Armenia's Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) membership, due to which the time and expenses of supplies have dropped by 10%. This gave the Armenian companies serious competitive advantages on the international markets, and opened an opportunity to expand the geography of export, particularly, to Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," he said. Baghdasaryan added that the company has also launched the supplies to Eastern Europe countries and will conclude contracts with the major European retail chains by the end of 2015.

Baghdasaryan noted that the foreign demand for agricultural products exceeds the supply and if the Armenian goods meet the quality standards, the demand may increase 3-4-fold without any serious infrastructure changes. "The major retail chains of Europe accept Global G.A.P.-certified goods. This standard is being introduced in Armenia and we are working with the entities complying with Global G.A.P.," he said.

When commenting on ArmInfo's question how much the foreign trade turnover decline in Armenia has affected the cargo traffic of the company, Baghdasaryan said that to maintain its competitiveness, Spayka LLC is reducing the prices of cargo transportation services and offers new solutions to the partners not to lose the profitability amid the negative trends. By the end of 2015, the company is going to launch a center to service the trucks of the Armenian offices of VOLVO, RENAULT, BERNARD KRONE and KARIER. 

At the moment, Spayka LLC has over 300 employees. 100 more jobs will be opened when the processing shop is launched, and 25 more jobs - when the vehicle service center is launched. The average salary at the company is 160 thsd AMD monthly. Spayka Limited Liability Company was founded in 2001. At present Spayka is a first-rate international freight forwarding company in Armenia, and is offering international freight forwarding to the CIS and EU countries. Through cooperation with world-renowned leaders in motor transport and implementation of state of the art control systems, the company provides international transportation with its own fleet, delivering "door to door" all kinds of freight from perishables to out-of-gauge loads of special purpose. By 2010 the company held the leading positions in cargo operations at the regional level. The company has worked out a stable industrial mechanism to sell fresh and processed Armenian agricultural products on international markets. The company cooperates with the major retail chains of the CIS, particularly, Russia. The company purchases the products from over 7,000 farm enterprises throughout the republic. The product assortment includes apricots, peaches, plums, apples, grapes, pears, etc. The products of Spayka LLC are sold under the brands "Ararat Fruit" and "Ararat Food". The company's vehicle fleet includes 115 trucks. It also has a cooling system with a capacity of 5 thsd tons.