Georgian Company Resumes Supplying Wild-grown Asparagus in Spring
Georgian company Toki Agro Products LLC plans to resume supplying wild-grown organic asparagus in 2021.
The company will also start a pilot project to grow various varieties of asparagus on its own property. The agricultural land of the group of companies, including Toki Agro Products, and whose products are manufactured under the brand name Green Republic, are located in the highlands of the Aspindza municipality of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region in the southern part of Georgia. Today, the group owns about 20 hectares. Strawberries are grown on 3 hectares and various vegetables and cereals are grown on the rest.
The agricultural farm of the company, which products are manufactured under the name of the brand Green Republic, is located in the municipality of Aspindza.
The company currently owns 20 hectares, on which various vegetables and cereals are grown.
According to the director and the founder of the company Torniek Mjavanadze, the brand of Green Republic appeared in the market in 2019. These Asparagus are endemic varieties in Georgia and they are harvested in the spring.
“Together with Ilia State University, we conducted a study on endemic asparagus varieties in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. Based on the results, the co-founders of the company – myself and Levan Shanava – decided to organize its collection and delivery to the market. In appearance, the wild asparagus we collect from an ecologically clean zone is very similar to cultivated varieties, but it has a special taste – much tastier and more aromatic. In addition, prices for organic products are higher. In 2019, we received a bio-certificate for asparagus from Caucascert, a local bio-certification body accredited by DAkkS in Germany. After that, we began supplying our products to Georgian supermarket chains where they immediately became in high demand. However, in the spring of 2020 amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we suspended production. In 2021, we plan to resume production again in early spring when the harvest begins and update the bio-certificate.
“Again, we will supply the products only to the Georgian market in supermarket chains. It is too early to speak of export at this stage. In 2019, we sent trial batches of our products to the European Union and received very good responses. However, considering the collection of asparagus growing in the wild is very dependent on weather conditions, the productivity of the picking teams, as well as other factors affecting transportation logistics, means we cannot ensure its stable supply to Europe,” noted Tornike Mzhavanadze with East-fruit.