On April 1, Kyiv hosted the Award Ceremony of the seventh independent professional tasting competition Favorite Food & Drinks. The event brought together food retail leaders: representatives of national and regional retail chains, manufacturers and industry experts.
The Favorite Food & Drinks tasting competition has already become a landmark event for the Ukrainian food market. Its goal is to determine the best products by their organoleptic characteristics “blindly” and to promote quality food products. Consumers and business partners can trust the Favorite Food & Drinks awards, as they are awarded exclusively based on the results of an independent evaluation.
“Ukrainian producers offer the world not just safe, high-quality and competitive food products. Ukrainian products are delicious, they are a carrier of cultural heritage, preserve and spread traditions and history. Ukrainians have long served the most delicious food to their guests. Today, Ukrainian producers set global trends and introduce conceptually new products. Favorite Food&Drinks reveals the delicious code of the Ukrainian nation,” said Olena Sinitsyna, founder and organizer of the competition.
5 trends in the food industry
1. Innovative approach: Manufacturers are experimenting with mix products, combining different product groups and unusual ingredients. Example: dairy products with alcoholic beverage flavors for consumers looking for a new experience without alcohol.
2. Healthy food: There is a growing demand for functional products with a combination of traditional recipes and healthy ingredients. The tasting includes kombucha, goat’s milk dairy products, healthy snacks and dried fruit candies.
3. Vegetable proteins: The range of products with vegetable proteins (milk, drinks, snacks) is expanding. The competition includes vegetable cabbage rolls, burger patties and gnocchi.
4. Ready-to-eat food: There is an increased demand for convenient food solutions to save time and reduce waste. Ready-to-eat cereals in retort packets and packaged tea with exotic flavors were popular.
5. Support for local producers: Ukrainians prefer domestic products, especially those from farmers and craft enterprises. A wide range of craft oils, cheeses, and dairy products made in Ukraine are presented at the tasting.
The competition included an organoleptic evaluation of 219 tasting samples in 14 nominations from 39 suppliers.
Results of the competition
Grand Prix: 35 awards
Gold: 143 awards
Silver: 32 honors
Bronze: 5 awards
Withdrawn from tastings – 1 tasting sample
No awards – 3 tasting samples
Prospects and opportunities for participants
The Favorite Food & Drinks competition is not only a prestigious award, but also a platform for brand development and an indispensable tool for the development and improvement of food products According to Anna Tsilnytska, Product Innovation Specialist at Carlsberg Ukraine, the competition opens up new prospects for manufacturers, helping companies, including small craft producers, to make themselves known, and retailers to expand their supplier base.
We invite you to participate!
Favorite Food & Drinks invites producers from all regions of Ukraine, suppliers of imported products to provide tasting samples and participate in the following competitions and receive well-deserved recognition. Look for the Favorite Food & Drinks insignia on product packaging – it is a quality marker confirmed by independent experts.
The best to the table!
Interfax-Ukraine is the official partner of the contest
On February 13, the Kyiv Commercial Court invalidated the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) to grant permission to CRH Ukraine B.V., a subsidiary of Irish CRH, to acquire the Dickergoff group of companies in Ukraine from Italian Buzzi, following a lawsuit filed by Kovalska Industrial and Construction Group LLC. This is stated in the decision in case 910/13150/24, which was reviewed byInterfax-Ukraine.
As reported, in the fall of 2024, CRH, the world’s leading manufacturer of building materials, after obtaining the AMCU’s approval, completed the acquisition of the Dickergoff group of companies in Ukraine from Buzzi for EUR 100 million.
According to the case file, the claims are based on the fact that the disputed decision of the AMC is illegal and unfounded due to incomplete clarification and proof of the circumstances relevant to the concentration case, as well as incomplete research of the ready-to-use concrete mixtures market by the defendant.
The decision also notes that CRH has already violated its obligations. One of them is the obligation to appoint, within 5 years from the date of the declared concentration, persons who do not hold positions in business entities related to CRH Ukraine B.V. in Ukraine as general and commercial directors, members of executive and supervisory bodies of PrJSC “Dickergoff cement Ukraine”. However, at the extraordinary general meeting of PrJSC “Dickergoff Cement Ukraine” on October 11, 2024, Mariusz Tomasz Bogacz, a member of the Supervisory Board of JSC “Podilsky Cement”, in which CRH Ukraine B.V. is a 100% participant, was elected as a member of the Supervisory Board.
The decision of the Commercial Court was made public on March 20, and Interfax-Ukraine requested a comment from CRH Ukraine B.V. on whether it is appealing the decision.
As reported, in September 2024, the AMCU allowed the subsidiary of Irish CRH, CRH Ukraine B.V. (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), to acquire shares in PrJSC Dickergoff Cement Ukraine, which will provide it with more than 50% of the votes in the supreme management body of the acquired asset, but subject to a number of obligations, including finding an independent investor for 25-28% of the shares. It is expected that this investor will be the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as in December 2023 CRH signed a mandate letter with it on the joint acquisition of the assets of the Italian company Buzzi in Ukraine. The AMC has been considering CRH’s merger filing since September 2023.
In June 2023, the Italian cement producer Buzzi, listed by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption as an international war sponsor, reached an agreement through its subsidiary Dyckerhoff GmbH to sell part of its Eastern European business to the Irish CRH Group, including its Ukrainian assets in the form of two cement plants: “Volyn-Cement (Zdolbuniv, Rivne region) and Pivden-Cement (Olshanske, Mykolaiv region).
CRH has been operating in Ukraine since 1999. Since November 2021, its cement enterprises in Ukraine have been operating under the Cemark brand: Podilsky Cement JSC (Khmelnytsky region), Cement LLC (Odesa), and Mykolaivcement PrJSC (Lviv region).
CRH’s separate business in Ukraine is the production of concrete and reinforced concrete products. PoliBeton Energo’s Bila Tserkva concrete goods plant is a specialized enterprise that produces power transmission towers. PoliBeton’s concrete hub in the north of Odesa joined CRH in 2020.
CRH is the world’s leading building materials manufacturer and the largest in North America and Europe. It has 3,200 plants in 28 countries and employs about 71,000 people. The company is also represented in Asia. CRH American depositary shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Communal contracting specialized enterprise for repair and construction of Kharkiv highways “Shlyahrembud” on April 8 announced a tender for the purchase of services of compulsory insurance of civil liability (CMTPL).
According to the message in the system of electronic public procurement ProZorro, the expected cost of purchasing services is UAH 5.319 million. The deadline for submitting proposals is April 16. As reported, last year the winner of a similar tender with a budget of UAH 1.9 million was IC “VUSO”.
Almost 30 applications have been submitted for the contest for the post of chairman of the board of the NEC Ukrenergo, the company’s acting head Oleksiy Brekht said.
“If I’m not mistaken, 28 applications have been submitted for the contest,” Brecht said in comments to Energoreforma after a briefing at the Energy Ministry on Wednesday.
He also confirmed that he too had applied for the contest. According to him, the tender will last for a few more weeks. As reported, the supervisory board of Ukrenergo announced a competition for the position of chairman of the board on February 5, applications were accepted until March 14 inclusive.
The EU has agreed retaliatory duties on U.S. goods worth about EUR21 billion ($23.2 billion), Bloomberg reported.
“The European Union approved tariffs on U.S. goods worth about EUR21 billion ($23.2 billion) in response to the 25 percent duties that President Donald Trump imposed last month on steel and aluminum exports from the bloc,” Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
A majority of the 27 EU member states reportedly voted in favor of the sanctions on Wednesday, some of which will begin to take effect in mid-April. The tariffs will target politically sensitive U.S. states and will include products such as soybeans from Louisiana, the home state of House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as diamonds, agricultural products, poultry and motorcycles.
“The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said the countermeasures could be ended at any time ‘if the United States agrees to a fair and balanced negotiated outcome,’” the report said.
“The move intensifies the growing transatlantic trade war, as the USA has also applied a universal 20 percent tariff on almost all European exports, as well as a separate 25 percent duty on cars and some auto parts. Trump said he would announce additional tariffs on lumber, semiconductor chips and pharmaceutical products. All of Trump’s new tariffs hit EU goods worth about 380 billion euros,” Bloomberg noted.
The EU is reportedly facing duties of 25% on steel, aluminum and auto imports, as well as new broad duties of 20% on nearly all other goods under Trump’s policy of targeting countries he says impose high barriers to imports from the US.
The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, on Monday proposed additional duties of mostly 25% on a range of imports from the US. The imports include motorcycles, poultry, fruit, timber, clothing and dental floss, according to the document seen by Reuters. They amounted to about EUR21 billion ($23 billion) last year, meaning that the EU’s retaliatory action will apply to goods worth less than EUR26 billion of metal exports from the EU that were hit by the US tariffs.
Agrane Agro Holding will plant more than 26 thou hectares of spring crops in the 2025 season, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, about 14 thou hectares will be allocated for corn, 12 thou hectares for sunflower and small areas for legumes and flax for diversification.
“Agrain Group operates on the principle that every drop of moisture is worth its weight in gold. We use modern technologies that help minimize water losses and create optimal conditions for germination and development of crops,” said Taras Kornienko, chief agronomist of the agricultural holding.
To preserve moisture, he said, the agroholding’s fields are harrowed and moisture sealed, Strip-Till technology is implemented, and drought-resistant hybrids are grown using flexible sowing dates.
Agrane added that the agroholding’s winter crops are in good condition due to timely fertilization and pest protection.
“Agrain is engaged in the cultivation and storage of grains and oilseeds, as well as livestock farming. Prior to the full-scale Russian invasion, the agricultural holding included 11 agricultural enterprises. It cultivated about 110,000 hectares in Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, and Cherkasy regions.
The holding is owned by SAS Investcompagnie (France).
