Ismayilovs and Nurayevs families from Zaqatala

The desire of the Ismayilov and Nurayev families from Zaqatala to set up a joint business is not accidental. The heads of families applied to participate in this EU-funded project that is implemented by UNDP with ABAD. And from the first day on they decided to join their strengths and knowledge. Sohrab Ismayilov and Harun Nurayev are both good friends and co-parents-in-law. One of these kinds, humorous friends, Sohrab tirelessly thinks of new ideas and practices, while Harun, who is more restrained, is dealing with production. By the way, he practices cooking.

These friends, despite not being so young, have become popular among all project participants by challenging trainers during all the trainings and Q&A sessions.

“How did they determine the shipping temperature of different products?”, “Why can there be more bacteria on gloves than hands?”, “Can our images come first on Google search?”, “How much profit can we make from selling these products?” (“How many of these products we must sell to reach the break-even point?”), “May we calculate the self-cost during production together?” are just some of their questions during trainings.

These new entrepreneurs, who asked so many questions, not only made the trainings interactive but also set an example for young people with their energy and enthusiasm. This cheerful couple tried to get the opinion of the trainers and participants during the training by winning them over to taste their products, and probably memorized all the training materials. Sohrab and Harun, who started working at full capacity, were provided with modern packaging equipment, a refrigerator, a hazelnut breaker, a drying stove, and other tools by the project. Soon, they started selling roasted and packaged hazelnuts in ABAD ethno-boutiques, and now, together with ABAD technologists, they are working on chopped and frozen vegetables, Alana fruit desserts, and other products.

During cold winter months, Sohrab starts his day with a portion of traditional “Khash” at Harun`s tiny tavern in Zaqatala market and heads to their small shop in his friend’s yard, to set up the production process. And after lunch, Harun joins him. No one doubts that the energy of these well-wishers (co-parents in law) will bring them success.