On the 6 March an official delegation, led by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fishery of the Kingdom of Sweden Eskil Erlandson visited the meat processing enterprise TANDEM in Sofia. The delegation is in Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture and Food Valeri Tsvetanov because of the forthcoming Presidency of the European Union Council of Sweden during the second half of 2009.

TANDEM’s factory is the only enterprise, visited by the Swedish ministry representatives. Minister Tsvetanov declared that he had chosen to present them exactly with TANDEM’ factory, because he was convinced in the quality of the products with this brand. The delegation also had the opportunity to be persuaded in it sampling Prague Ham, Jerked Meat, Fillet Elena, Sushenitsa, Roasted Ham, Roasted Breast Rolls, Pork Fillet, Flat Sausage, Sausages and Tongue Delicacy.

During the sampling the Ambassador of Sweden in Bulgaria His Excellency Mr. Paul Beyer admitted that the company TANDEM had won him to be its loyal client. In the public discussion context about the quality of the Bulgarian meet products Mr. Valeri Tsvetanov commented with few words upon the sausage which he tasted: “A very good sausage. A proper one!” The topics, discussed by Mr. Eskil Erlandson and His Excellency Mr. Paul Beyer were connected mainly with the International Food Standards for quality and safety, the labour policy and the competition.

Being asked about the meat products, Mr. Vatev answered that in different countries there were specific traditions in meat preferences and the Bulgarian consumers would not like many foreign meat products. He prognosticated: “The economic crises will collect foods in their own countries. Recently Bulgarian public has been especially sensitive to the presence of preservatives in the foods, necessary for their durability, particularly in foreign products. For that reason globalization in the field of food is difficult.