Statistics indicate that some of the events simply do not make sense.
Croatia has in recent years experienced an overproduction of conferences, trade shows, events, festivals and various events related to agriculture. The speeches are being held, topics discussed and local products sold, while the media, family farm representatives and politicians come together and socialize. But, no one can say with certainty whether these events help with the development of the agricultural sector and whether they ultimately have an impact on what is the most important – higher production and higher farmers’ income, reports agrobiz.hr on March 20, 2016.
Topics discussed at the conferences are similar – how to increase production, what are the effects of the EU membership, how to reduce food imports, how to encourage the development of rural areas or how to take advantage of EU funds. Panelists, given that this is a small country, are also generally the same. The media is mostly there at the beginning of the event, they wait for the speeches by the keynote speakers (usually politicians and ministers) and then leave.
As for the fairs, we all say that we would like to buy local products, but when you ask exhibitors if they are satisfied with sales at fairs, they mostly shrug their shoulders and say “no”. It is nice to visit a fair, see what is being offered there, talk to these hardworking people, but if we bring the economic factor into the equation, the question comes up whether fair sales will get better in the future or if it would be more prudent to find a way to join these producers together and help them find their way to the store shelves.
According to some expert estimates, over 80 percent and maybe even up to 90 percent of food sales are store related. This would mean that family farms’ participation in the fairs does not yield much revenue. The fact that it is not easy to brand local products is also illustrated by the data showing that specialized shops which sell products from family farms are not able to remain open for more than several months.
