In March 2003, Sher, a Kyrgyz producer of sausage and meat products as well as a long-term client of USAID/Pragma Bishkek EDC, attended the second annual Exhibition for the Food Processing Industry in Osh. As a result of contacts made at the exhibition, the company won a new contract to supply Osh Market Grocery Store with weekly shipments of sausages worth $400.

Business Advisors from the USAID/Pragma Enterprise Development Center (EDC) in Osh worked closely with Sher at the exhibition to introduce them to potential new customers, most promising of these was Osh Market Grocery Store who expressed great interest in the products. When Sher returned to Bishkek, the Bishkek EDC then helped in negotiations between Sher and Osh Market Grocery Store, and a supply contract was signed. With USAID/Pragma’s assistance, the deal was concluded so quickly that within seven days of meeting the potential customer at the exhibition, Sher’s products were on sale in The Osh Market Grocery Store.

Both Shamil Timurovich Arliev, Head of Sher, and Lyudmila Grigoryevna Hapova, Administrator of Osh Market Grocery Store, are delighted with the new partnership. Mr Arliev said, “We hope for further cooperation on a long-term basis with Osh Market Grocery Store.” Mrs Hapova shares this sentiment by saying that she “hopes for a continuation of established contacts with Sher on a long term basis.” She went on to relay her customers’ enthusiastic comments about Sher products being “excellent quality” and providing a “wide range of product varieties.”