005-2012-10-NOA_Agro_Serra_Snapshot.docx

A worker at Agro Serra carefully weighs and packages salad mix at Agro Serra for sale to restaurants and supermarkets.

Agro Serra workers give lettuce an initial wash before being chilled, washed twice more, spun dry, weighed and packaged.

Agro Serra owner Gani Hajzeri samples the lettuces growing adjacent to his newly opened bagged-salad production facility.

Photo: Andrew Bridges Photo: Andrew Bridges Photo: Andrew Bridges U.S. Agency for International Development www.usaid.gov

FIRST LETTUCE POST-HARVEST LINE IN KOSOVO INAUGURATED

Shipol/Sipolje, KOSOVO (Oct. 15, 2012) - The opening of Kosovo’s first lettuce post-harvest line at Agroserra grower and processor brought together about 60 interested stakeholders in Shipol/Sipolje, Mitrovica.

This USAID supported initiative cost around €75,000, and the facility includes an ice machine, washing, cooling and drying machines, as well as a packaging table, sealing system, a leak and gas detector.

The post-harvest facility allows to quickly chill, wash, spin dry and package a wide mix of salad greens, including arugula, romaine and 26 other varieties actively being promoted by USAID’s New Opportunities for Agriculture (NOA) Program.

Agroserra can now produce up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of bagged salads a day for sale to local restaurants and supermarkets. The special packaging prolongs the shelf life of its triple-washed salads to 10 days or more.

“People are going to get hooked,” vowed Agroserra owner Gani Hajzeri, who has seen first-hand the popularity of bagged salads in the United States and Western Europe. The Program contributed two-thirds of the cost of the Agroserra facility as part of its efforts to help Kosovo’s agricultural sector grow in output and diversity, all while improving food quality and safety.

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