Apricot processors in Afghanistan are struggling for their share of an Afghan market saturated with imported apricot juices, jams, and fruit concentrates. To enhance competitiveness, Afghan agribusinesses need to improve their product quality, shelf life, and marketing approach. This depends less on state-of-the-art equipment as on processors’ essential skills, knowledge, and know-how.

To address this issue, USAID organized a three-day training for small-to-medium scale food processors from 17 private companies and household enterprises, nine of which were women-owned. The training covered the entire jam making business: from choosing the right raw materials, to cooking tips and the science underlying them, and to hygienic, effective bottling. This was supplemented with labelling instruction to improve the trainees’ marketing skills.

One female participant was surprised to learn about the importance of marketing and shared, “In our women’s group, we have not even thought about applying any labels on our products. We have to make good labels for everything we sell now.”

The Atta Mohammad Food Production Company tried to make apricot jam some years ago, but they could not successfully compete with imports and lost a lot of their production due to spoilage. With the skills acquired at the training they now intend to relaunch apricot jam production.

"Once we tried producing apricot jam in our company and the result was not good. We didn’t really know how to make apricot jam. At this training, I learned, for example, how to use lemon juice to extend the shelf life. Lemon juice will also make the jam more delicious. We will begin producing apricot jam again - I am sure that this time we will be successful and better than the imports!” said the company vice president Alef Khan Amiri.

“Apricots are inexpensive in Afghanistan. Farmers do not make much out of it, but apricot jam is more profitable,” says Alef Khan Amiri. Fresh Afghan apricots are exported at a low price to be processed abroad, and then sold back at a high price. “This is not good for the economy. That is why we’re launching an apricot jam production line – Afghan jam from Afghan apricots for Afghan customers, at a reasonable price.”