According to the daily monitoring of the EastFruit project, interruptions in the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout Ukraine, due to hostilities in part of the country, have a large impact on the level of wholesale and retail prices in the fruit and vegetable segment on the Polish market. In particular, Polish producers report that carrot prices have risen significantly this week.

Today, most Polish export-oriented companies deliver carrots to Ukraine, while their supply on the Polish market is also rapidly declining, causing a significant increase in prices in this segment.

Read also: Food security and agricultural sector of Ukraine during the war

Most Polish grower currently do not sell carrots cheaper than $0.24-0.31/kg, which is on average 22% more expensive than last week.

As a result of this increase, carrot prices on the Polish market are on average 14% higher than at the end of March last year. Moreover, most market players are sure that prices in the segment will keep rising, as there is already a shortage of carrots on the market, while both domestic and export demand remains quite high.

Сообщение Exports of carrots to Ukraine caused a price increase on the Polish market появились сначала на EastFruit.

Since the beginning of February, wholesale prices for imported blueberries have been increasing on the Polish market, EastFruit project analysts report with reference to the fresh-market website. In total, imported blueberries in Poland have risen in price by 34% over the year, and current blueberry prices are in the range of 36.00-58.00 PLN/kg ($8.98-14.46/kg), depending on quality, packaging and country of origin.

It is worth noting that since the blueberry harvest in Spain has been going on for several weeks now, the increase in the supply of blueberries should lead to a fall in prices, not an increase. Unfortunately, the harvesting is still at a very early stage, as no more than 8-9% of the planned blueberries were harvested by the end of the 10th week in Spain.

In the 9th week (the latest data by Cen Junta de Andalusia), blueberry prices in Spain increased from $6.03/kg to $6.17/kg. According to market operators, this increase in blueberry prices in Spain is a consequence of high production and logistics costs, as well as problems with the current harvest due to adverse weather conditions. At the same time, there is a tendency to reduce selling prices for blueberries every year. Thus, prices for blueberries in Spain decreased from $7.12/kg last year to the aforementioned $6.17/kg.

Сообщение Prices for imported blueberries in Poland have increased instead of falling появились сначала на EastFruit.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova plans a working visit of a government delegation to Egypt in February to hold consultations on an interstate free trade agreement with the ministries and departments of Egypt. The Moldovan Ministry of Economy is currently finalizing the draft document. If it is coordinated quickly and successfully with the Egyptian party, the agreement may be concluded as early as the spring of 2022.

Representatives of organizations of producers and exporters of fruit products claim that they have previously submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAIA) their proposals for cooperation on trade in agri-food products with Egypt. In their opinion, a better option would be to sign not a comprehensive free trade agreement between states, but an agreement on commercial preferences for a list of products.

While studying this issue with Middle Eastern trading partners (owners of enterprises in Moldova exporting fruits to the UAE and North Africa), experts from fruit growing associations concluded that Moldovan apples, table grapes and dried plums may be the most demanded on the Egyptian market. Citrus and exotic fruits, as well as some types of vegetables from Egypt could be supplied to the Moldovan market.

Traders who plan to export apples to Egypt in the near future note that these are most likely to be average-quality apples exported to Cairo – in particular, apples with a diameter of 65-70 mm, red and mostly sweet varieties (although sweet and sour “Idared” is not rejected right away). Given the simpler and faster transport logistics and less stringent product quality requirements, Moldovan exporters regard the Egyptian market as more accessible than the markets of the Middle East. In their opinion, the main deterrent for the active supply of Moldovan fruits to Egypt is the high import duty (about $200/tonne).

In addition, some participants in the Moldovan agri-food market claim that Turkish business is resisting the establishment of preferential trade between Moldova and Egypt. Turkey benefits from the free trade agreement with Moldova – Turkish citrus fruits and vegetables dominate the Moldovan market during certain periods of the marketing year. Also, suppliers of Turkish apples are actively increasing their presence in the Egyptian fruit market.

Сообщение Moldovan government plans to sign an agreement on preferential fruit exports with Egypt появились сначала на EastFruit.

Most Polish growers today have almost completed the sales of pears of the “Conference” variety, analysts from the EastFruit project report. At the same time, the demand in the Polish market remains quite high, allowing growers who still have volumes of Conference pears in storages to  increase the prices.

According to the project’s daily monitoring data, today Conference pears are sold at $0.91-1.16/kg, which is on average 14% more expensive than at the end of the last work week. Representatives of export companies increasingly face the problem of collecting the necessary batches of pears, since not all producers are ready to offer the necessary volumes of Conference pears of export quality.

It should be noted that pears of the “Conference” variety in Poland cost today on average 28% more than in the same period last year. Key market players explain such a price difference by a significant decrease in the harvest in the current season, as well as an increased demand for Conference pears, both domestically and from export companies.

Сообщение Polish growers are increasing prices for pears of the Conference variety появились сначала на EastFruit.

The potato market in Eastern Europe has been feverish since the beginning of the 2021/22 season. All countries of the EastFruit monitoring presented serious surprises for market participants. Let’s recall the key points.

– Belarus, which was usually an exporter, began to import potatoes even during its own harvest because of serious problems with the quality and volume of production.

– Russia also abruptly switched from exports to a panicky search for opportunities to import potatoes, prices being several times higher than usual for autumn.

– Ukraine, which in recent years has surprised with huge volumes of imports of marketable potatoes, on the contrary, has faced an overproduction of potatoes. At the same time, the exports of potatoes from Ukraine was as complicated as possible for various reasons, and the prices dropped to the lowest level in the region and were significantly lower than in previous seasons.

– Moldova, which has always imported potatoes from Russia and Belarus, unexpectedly began to export them not only to these countries, but also to the Balkans, and the prices long remained the lowest in the region, despite the exports. They were even lower than in Ukraine, leading to the exports of potatoes from Moldova to Ukraine.

– Georgia, which was also usually a net importer of potatoes, began to export rather large volumes of potatoes to Russia this season.

What have the attempts to urgently find suppliers or sales markets for potatoes led to and what are the prospects for the potato market in these countries in the remaining months of the season?

To begin with, let’s compare the level of wholesale prices for potatoes in the countries of the region.

As can be seen, Russia remains the leader in terms of prices, and the average price for potatoes reaches $0.38/kg. Georgia and Belarus are close to Russia, and potatoes are sold only $0.02/kg cheaper there. Obviously, the exports of potatoes from Georgia to Russia has now stopped, and the supply from Belarus to Russia is, most likely, the re-exports of potatoes grown in Ukraine or the EU.

Moldova still sells potatoes relatively cheap. Theoretically, potato exports from Moldova to Russia are still possible. However, as our colleagues from Moldova report, it is no longer easy to collect volumes of potatoes of the required quality in the country.

The lowest prices are in Ukraine – you can buy potatoes two or more times cheaper than in Russia, Georgia and Belarus there. By the way, it’s time to talk about the export of potatoes to Georgia. The supply of potatoes to Belarus is now complicated by new quarantine requirements, as well as logistics issues. It is also difficult to export them to the EU countries due to strict quarantine requirements and problematic quality of Ukrainian potatoes. And prices in the EU, for example in Poland, are now slightly higher than in Ukraine.

How have potato prices changed in recent weeks?

It is interesting to look at the dynamics of potato prices in recent weeks in the analyzed countries of Eastern Europe. These dynamics show how countries deal with deficits or surpluses. The chart below shows the percentage of price change as of December 17 over the past 4 weeks, over 8 weeks and since early September 2021.

As can be seen in the chart, the prices for potatoes have increased in Moldova since the beginning of September – by 33%. It got rid of the surplus of production. At the same time, prices for potatoes have been stable there in the last 4 weeks, which means that supply and demand have balanced. Prices, however, are only slightly higher than last year.

Belarus has slightly reduced wholesale prices for potatoes in the last two months – by 4% average. However, if compared to the beginning of September, the prices are still 28% higher. In addition, potatoes still cost, on average, twice as much as usual at this time of year. This means that the deficit was not completely eliminated.

Russia seems to succeed in tackling the potato shortage, since prices there have fallen by 8% over the past 4 weeks and by 21% over the past 2 months. However, potatoes are now 21% more expensive than at the beginning of September there. And this is not surprising, since there are no longer any sources of cheap potatoes in the world for Russia. Potatoes in Russia are now sold 3 times more expensive than at the same time in 2019 and 50% times more expensive than in 2020.

Potato prices in Georgia are gradually increasing. Since they are twice as high as last year, the season for exporting potatoes from Georgia can be said to be over. At this price level, the country may even start importing potatoes.

In Poland, potatoes are also dynamically rising in price, although prices remain relatively low. Obviously, the country is now successfully coping with the surplus of production.

In Ukraine, prices for potatoes continue to decline, which indicates continuing problems with sales. Without external markets, which producers will not be able to enter without a significant increase in the quality, the situation in the industry will not change. Therefore, Ukrainian potato growers now sell their products almost twice as cheap as usual during this period of the year.

What are the forecasts for potato prices in the coming months?

In order to forecast potato prices with a high degree of probability, fundamental market analysis must be constantly conducted. Only APK-Inform: vegetables and fruits does this in Ukraine, but this forecast is not public and is available for ordering on the company’s website.

Therefore, in forming our opinion, we will rely on available information about trends and opinions of market participants. Accordingly, we will not call this a forecast, but rather the consolidated expectations of the region’s potato market participants.

First of all, where the countries experiencing a shortage of potatoes can buy them?

Pakistan has already started a new harvest of potatoes, but the cost of logistics is so high that there is no point in supplying potatoes to the European part of Russia and Belarus from Pakistan now.

Iran will obviously also start entering the potato market with a new harvest as early as January 2022, just like Egypt. However, the potato harvest in Egypt this year will be much lower than usual, and prices are already very high there. Since it is Egypt that is usually the main supplier of potatoes to Russia in spring, prices there will be decisive for the formation of prices in Russia. Proceeding from this, market participants expect an increase in the price of potatoes in Russia in February. A similar forecast will be made for Belarus.

By the way, there is another reason for the rise in potato prices in Belarus – from January 1, 2022, the import of potatoes, as well as other vegetables and fruits from the EU to Belarus will stop. In addition, prices for potatoes there are directly correlated with prices in the Russian Federation.

In Ukraine, on the other hand, potato stocks remain sufficient, and exports to most countries are either impossible or very difficult. This suggests the prospect of keeping potato prices at a very low level.

In Moldova, the stocks of potatoes of the required quality may turn out to be lower than the market needs in the winter-spring period. Therefore, many market participants are expecting an increase in potato prices in Moldova.

Another interesting feature of the potato season is the high prices for seed potatoes in the countries of the region. The demand has grown, but their supply has decreased.

Recall that the dynamics of prices for potatoes in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central is available in the EastFruit wholesale price monitoring section. You can sell or buy marketable potatoes in the largest Telegram group EFTrade, and seed potatoes in the EFTechnology group.

Сообщение Potato market in Eastern Europe – an overview of prices, trends, and prospects появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, the price of cabbage has almost doubled in Ukraine over the past week. Most growers and traders offered it at prices ranging from 5 to 8 UAH/kg ($ 0.19-0.30/kg) in bulk at the end of November, but by December 10, 2021 prices jumped to 8-10 UAH/kg ($0.30-0.37/kg).

As a result of the sharp rise in prices, importers began to consider purchases from neighboring countries. Since cabbage is a specific product consumed in large volumes in a small number of Eastern European countries, and its prices in Belarus and Russia are also record-breaking, Ukrainian importers were forced to start purchasing it in Poland.

Today, small wholesale batches cabbage in Poland is sold at 0.75 PLN, which is equivalent to 5 UAH/kg. With a large wholesale batch, a lower price can be negotiated. Therefore, high-quality Polish cabbage can enter the Ukrainian market at this price. Moreover, the participants of the Ukrainian market believe that prices will continue to grow.

What caused such a sharp rise in prices for cabbage in Ukraine? Experts believe that it is the “domino effect”.

“The prices for cabbage in Russia keep growing rapidly for several weeks in a row, because the local market is experiencing an acute shortage. Accordingly, the average price is close to $0.6/kg, which is twice higher than in Ukraine and 5 times higher than the price in Russia at the same time last year! Naturally, Russia is trying to import cabbage from all possible supplying countries, primarily from Belarus. However, due to the growing demand from Russia, prices for cabbage are also growing rapidly there. Due to the drought in Belarus, its own cabbage harvest was moderate. Accordingly, Belarus began to buy cabbage in Ukraine to cover the needs of Russian importers, which pushed cabbage price up in Ukraine,” explains Andriy Yarmak, Economist at the Investment Centre, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The average wholesale price for cabbage In Ukraine is now 4 times higher than last year. This means that the already record high price for “borsch set” of vegetables in Ukraine keeps rising even faster. Uzbekistan is experiencing a similar problem with the prices of vegetables, and cabbage prices are also hitting records due to an increase in its export to the Russian market.

Now, if Ukraine starts large-scale purchases of cabbage in Poland, prices may rise there as well. There is also a positive side – the supply of cabbage has grown sharply lately at the largest fruit and vegetable trading platform in the region, EFTradePlatform. It seems that growers are satisfied with the rise in prices and are trying to lock in profits. They sell cabbage with very good margins, without having to bear the costs of long-term storage and the risk of losses.

The other part of growers is waiting for higher prices, believing that the limit for the growth of cabbage prices is far from being exhausted. Some of the vegetable growers we interviewed believe that prices for cabbage on the Russian market can reach unprecedented $1/kg in January-February! The expectations of Ukrainian growers are much less ambitious – they are ready to start selling cabbage from modern vegetable storages when prices reach $0.5/kg.

At the same time, do not forget that the first batches of early cabbage from the southern regions of Central Asia will become available on the markets of Russia and Ukraine in March. This can lead to stabilization and even lowering of prices. Uzbek growers have already announced their intention to significantly expand the areas planted with early cabbage.

Сообщение Cabbage prices in Ukraine have risen sharply – imports from Poland begin появились сначала на EastFruit.

Since Russia imposed an embargo on the import of fruits and vegetables from Poland and the EU, the sale of Idared apples has become complicated. This apple variety can only be sold at a good price in  seasons with a lower production. Only then and at the end of such a season, prices approach the prices of other varieties, analysts of the EastFruit project report with reference to the fresh-market website.

We can see a similar situation this year, but the prices for all apple varieties in Poland have fallen dramatically in the current season. As a result, the prices for Idared apples turned out to be almost at the lowest level.

To date, wholesale prices for apples of this variety are announced at the level of 0.40-0.50 PLN/kg ($0.10-0.12/kg). However, real sales of large batches of Idared apples are made even at 0.30 PLN/kg ($0.07/kg) – this is the price of industrial apples!

To date, selling Idared apples for Polish growers has become a real problem, because of an abundance of other apple varieties on the market, the demand for which is traditionally higher. Prices for almost all apple varieties are very low this season. Nevertheless, many growers do not want to store this variety for too long, since its cost will not cover storage costs.

It is worth noting that there are few Idared apples of good quality in the current season, and growers deciding to store them expect that prices will rise at the end of the season. It is also worth considering how quickly other varieties of apples will be sold and of what quality they will be during long-term storage.

Сообщение Poland: Prices for Idared apples fell to the price level of industrial apples появились сначала на EastFruit.

Over the past two weeks, wholesale prices for apples of the Golden and Golden Delicious varieties have been dynamically growing in Moldova. If at the beginning of the last decade of October traders paid an average of 5.5 MDL/kg ($0.31/kg), then last week at 7 MDL/kg($ 0.4 /kg). At the beginning of the current week prices for high quality apples of Golden Delicious variety were shipped from cold storage facilities to Russian supermarket chains and importers at 10.5 MDL/kg ($0.57-0.60/kg). Apples had to be sorted, large size and packed in the cartons.. The price level is already comparable (and even slightly higher for high-quality products) with the average and maximum prices for apples of the mentioned varieties in the first half of November last year.

But managers of large horticultural and commercial enterprises believe that analogies with last year’s situation are not correct. In their opinion, at the end of October – beginning of November 2021, we can rather talk about an abnormal situation in the apple market of the Russian Federation. Moreover, most likely it is connected with some kind of failure in the usual system of supplying high-quality imported apples to the Russian market. Traders associate this failure with the termination for political reasons of supplies of Polish apples to the Belarusian market, and through it – to the Russian market. In such a situation, Russian wholesalers and retailers are urgently looking for a replacement, Moldovan suppliers of quality apples of certain varieties are one of the options.

However, according to the Moldovan traders themselves, the window of opportunity for them did not open for long – for maximum two or three weeks. During this period, the Polish apple may come to the Russian market through Serbian channels. Or a cheap Ukrainian apple will start to arrive in Russia through Belarus. One way or another, but until the end of November, according to traders, high price volatility is possible in the Russian market for imported apples, then the situation will stabilize.

However, experts of some trading companies drew attention to the fact that players of the European apple market made short-term attempts to raise prices back in September. They associate such intentions with a noticeable rise in the cost of production resources and materials – fuels and plant protection products, in the first place, as well as with logistical difficulties – a shortage of containers for sea transportation.

Сообщение Apple prices in Moldova are growing fast. What’s the reason? появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, after the considerable first large exports of Russian greenhouse cucumbers to Poland at the end of 2020, the volume of cucumber exports from Russia to Poland in 2021 increased significantly.

In the first 8 months of 2021, Russia has already exported 579 tonnes of fresh greenhouse cucumbers to Poland, while not a single batch was exported in the same period of 2020. Throughout 2020, Russia exported 244 tonnes of fresh greenhouse cucumbers to Poland, that is, the current export volumes have already exceeded the last year’s.

It should be noted that the entire volume of Russian cucumbers was exported to the Polish market in the first 3 months of 2021, and there were no new shipments after that. However, Russian cucumbers were shipped to Poland in October-November in 2020.

Prices for cucumbers in Russia were abnormally high in October this year, exceeding those in Poland. Therefore, it is unlikely that there was any export. In the very first week of November, prices for cucumbers in Russia fell sharply, while in Poland they rose, so Russia may be able to export cucumbers to the Polish market again in the near future.

In total, Russia has already exported 11 thousand tonnes of greenhouse cucumbers in the first 8 months of 2021, which is 28% higher than in the same period of 2020. Belarus remained the main sales market, importing 9.9 thousand tonnes of Russian cucumbers – twice as much as last year. The exports of Russian cucumbers to Moldova also increased significantly – 2.6 times, but the volume was much lower – 268 tonnes. Estonia and Georgia also imported more than 200 tonnes of Russian cucumbers, but reduced imports in 2021.

Сообщение Russia continues to rapidly increase exports of greenhouse cucumbers to Poland появились сначала на EastFruit.

After the analysis of the competition among exporters in the global frozen raspberry market showing that Ukraine is a global leader in terms of its exports growth, EastFruit experts paid attention to imports. After all, it is the growth in demand, and hence in imports, that allows to increase the exports of raspberries.

Who are the main global importers of frozen raspberries, and what trends have been noted in these countries in recent years?

To assess the volume of the raspberry market and the specific weight of different countries, we used quantitative indicators, since raspberry prices can vary largely in different countries.

We conducted a quick, unrepresentative survey of raspberry growers of the Ukrainian berry business, and few of them answered correctly when asked who is the largest importer of frozen raspberries in the world. In fact, the global leader in the import of raspberries is Germany. By the way, it became the second largest sales market for Ukrainian frozen raspberries in 2020.

Every fifth kilogram of exported frozen raspberries in the world is supplied to Germany – 2.7 times more than France, second in this ranking. Note that the rating of importers was compiled on the basis of the average data over the past five years, but in 2020 the United States pushed France to second position in terms of imports of frozen raspberries.

Accordingly, the United States ranks third in terms of imports of frozen raspberries in the world, being significantly ahead of other importers in terms of volumes.

As you see, the concentration of raspberry imports in the world is average, because the first three countries together import less than half, namely 39% of all raspberries.

Among the top 10 importers, there were also trading countries – those importing frozen raspberries mostly for further re-export. These are, first of all, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland. Moreover, if the first two are net importers, due to extremely low volumes of domestic production with high volumes of consumption, Poland is a net exporter ranking second in the world by a large margin from the third in terms of net exports.

How many countries import exotic raspberries?

It is very important for the raspberry market participants to understand that there are not so many countries importing frozen raspberries. This is not because they grow them themselves, but because raspberries are quite exotic for many countries. Since there are no traditions of growing and consuming raspberries in many countries where the climate allows their cultivation, frozen raspberries are not imported here either.

The second important aspect limiting the demand for frozen raspberries is the low knowledge level of the benefits of using frozen berries, fruits and vegetables.

“During our trade missions to ASEAN countries, primarily Malaysia and Singapore, we discovered that fresh raspberries are available in retail at about $40 per kg, and you can find raspberry smoothies on the menu in restaurants. Fresh raspberries are usually supplied to supermarkets from Chile or the United States, but there was almost no import of frozen raspberries. When we asked restaurateurs where they get raspberries for smoothies, they said they buy them in the supermarket, freeze and use for smoothies! They were extremely surprised when they learned that tastier frozen raspberries could be bought at $3-4 per kg – 10 times cheaper!”, – says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

“Thus, there is a huge potential for the development of frozen raspberry global consumption, both by promoting the consumption of raspberries and frozen products in general. After all, most people in the world have never tasted raspberries. As a rule, consumers like this berry in smoothies, teas, juice, dairy such as yoghurts, in confectionery and bakery, and, of course, fresh,” the FAO expert explains.

Low global prices for frozen raspberries in 2017-2019 helped make them more popular, and many tried raspberry flavored products for the first time during this period. This became the basis for the growth in consumption and prices for raspberries in 2021.

Nevertheless, only 12-15 countries now import more than 10 thousand tons of raspberries annually, many of them for subsequent re-export. More than 1 thousand tons of raspberries a year are bought by only about 35 countries! This is both good and bad. It is bad because the market is limited. On the other hand, the potential for its growth is really great, but not at the high prices that prevail at the moment.

Where do consumers come from? Which countries are increasing imports of frozen raspberries faster than others?

We have mentioned that Poland is rapidly increasing imports of raspberries, but remains the second largest importer of this berry in the world. It will be interesting for Ukrainian exporters to know that many global leaders are increasing their imports.

For example, the average annual growth in frozen raspberry imports to Serbia that remains the undisputed leader in the global market is 12% or 1.4 thousand tons per year. Thus, Serbia is the 12th largest raspberry importer in the world! Chile is also rapidly increasing imports by as much as 20% annually.

Why would exporters import raspberries? What does this mean?

In our opinion, this suggests that marketing in any business is the key to success. Serbs, Poles, Chileans and other countries that sell a lot of raspberries for exports can use their own channels to resell raspberries from other countries – this is additional income! We wrote more about this in the article “How much money does Ukraine give to Poland when exporting berries?“.

However, not only re-exporters are increasing the volume of raspberry imports. In the top 20 largest countries importing frozen raspberries, only three have reduced their imports, and 17 have increased them over the past five years. In the top 10, only France reduced the import of raspberries.

We took the top 11 largest importers of raspberries for the chart, since these are the countries that, on average, have imported more than 10 thousand over the past 5 years, excluding re-exports. We have already mentioned which country was a major re-exporter. It remains to add only Belarus that helped Russian importers bypass Russian “anti-sanctions”.

Notably, it was Poland that topped the list of countries with the fastest growing raspberry imports in the world. It imports 16% or 3.4 thousand tons of raspberries more every year. In this article, we analyzed the reasons for the decline in raspberry production in Poland and the increase in imports, one of which is competition from Ukraine.

Russia is second in the world in terms of growth rates of frozen raspberry imports. Obviously, this is due to the growth of production in the food industry of the country, where raspberries are used more and more. However, the berry business in Russia is extremely underdeveloped and local commercial production is severely limited, especially in the raspberry segment. Accordingly, the Russian Federation is forced to increase imports of raspberries from other countries. Moreover, it is Belarus that is one of the key exporters of raspberries to Poland, but Belarus itself has become one of the global leaders in imports.

The third and fourth positions in terms of the growth rate of frozen raspberry imports are taken by Canada and the United Kingdom. The first one annually imports 2 thousand tons more, and the second – 1.8 thousand tons more. Relative growth rates also remain high. This year, Ukraine has already supplied at least one batch of raspberries to Canada and the United States, so they may become more traditional markets for the suppliers of our region.

The UK also appears to be a fairly promising sales market, especially given Brexit. Until recently, the suppliers of frozen raspberries from Serbia and Poland dominated here, but the growth of the quality parameters of frozen raspberries produced in Ukraine and Moldova will create new opportunities for their export to the UK.

Also, good opportunities open up in the US market, which is quite capacious, with prices being almost always very attractive. Therefore, this market should become one of the strategic ones for any supplier of high-quality products.

As you see in the chart, France is the only country that has reduced raspberry imports over the past five years. However, this does not prevent it from remaining one of the three largest markets for frozen raspberries in the world. It is gratifying that Ukrainian exporters are already actively supplying raspberries there.

What trends are noted in the import of frozen raspberries in 2021?

Frozen raspberry prices skyrocketed in the summer of 2021. The sharp rise in global prices was triggered by the raspberry harvest failure in Serbia that became apparent when the harvest of summer varieties started. The demand remained high, but given such a high price level, it will undoubtedly decline.

Since prices were still relatively high in the first half of the year, many countries have already started to reduce imports in 2021. According to data for the first 7 months of 2021, more than half of the top 10 importing countries have reduced the volume of raspberry imports. This is a wake-up call, especially after the active expansion of areas planted with raspberries in Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and in many other countries. We have already written about the “raspberry boom-2 in Ukraine” – similar is expected in other raspberry-producing countries.

According to our estimates, the total volume of global raspberry imports in the first 7 months of 2021 decreased by about 5%. The top 10 global importers have reduced imports by 11 thousand tons over this period! The reduction in this group of importers may reach 25-30 thousand tons by the end of the year.

Notably, only Russia continued to actively increase imports of frozen raspberries among the top 10 importers. It increased the volume of purchased frozen raspberries by 22% at once during this period. Therefore, the growing Russian influence on the formation of regional prices for frozen raspberries should not be underestimated. Poland also increased imports by 12%, the USA by 6% and France by 4%. Austria (by 23%), Great Britain (by 18%), Canada (by 16%) and the Netherlands (by 14%) reduced imports of frozen raspberries the most dramatically.

Therefore, all producers and processors of raspberries need to take into account the reducing import volumes and replacing raspberries in recipes with other fruits and berries. After all, the high price of berries makes them less attractive for the food industry of importing countries.

The strategy for the sustainable development of the raspberry business, as well as how Ukraine can become a global leader in the raspberry export in volume and in value, will be discussed in Kyiv on December 3, 2021 at the 17th international conference  “Fruits and Vegetables Ukraine 2021. New Investment Opportunities” within the framework of the #FTradeClub. You can apply for registration here. The event is supported by the Ukrainian Horticultural Association, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and FAO.

Сообщение Poland is the global leader in the growth of frozen raspberry imports: an overview of key market trends появились сначала на EastFruit.