According to weather forecasts, it will get colder in Moldova this week, precipitation may intensify. According to the heads of horticultural enterprises, worsening weather conditions will obviously affect the start of the main cherry season. It was supposed to start on the first days of June, but under current conditions, it will be postponed for at least a week.
The first cherries became available in the country almost two weeks ago, but, as the operators of the fruit and vegetable market note, “in small quantities and at huge prices.” EastFruit reported that first cherries in retail were offered at the price of “three to four kilograms of meat” – up to 300 MDL/kg ($ 16.9/kg) and more. A few wholesale suppliers who risked importing Greek cherries to the domestic market offered them to retailers at 100-130 MDL/kg ($ 5.62-7.30/kg).
At the end of May, early local cherries almost replaced imported ones. However, their offer is limited. At the same time, despite the noticeably increased quality, the retail price fell to 120-150 MDL/kg ($ 6.74-8.42/kg) over less than two weeks. However, the wholesale price has not yet been formed. The majority of Moldovan cherry sellers now are small producers who sell fruits from trays and car trunks or in their own stores in the suburbs.
Focusing on the dynamics of sales and prices in the previous several years, experts of the Moldovan fruit growers’ associations believe that despite the difficult weather conditions prices for cherries will decrease quite sharply in the beginning of June – “faster than those for strawberries at the beginning of the sales season”. They justify this by the fact that cherries are in less demand than strawberry in the domestic market of Moldova and at the same time, “the price level for cherries, which is acceptable for mass Moldovan consumers is significantly lower than for strawberries.” It is estimated at about the same level as in mid-May last year – 40-60 MDL/kg ($ 2.25-3.37/kg). However, according to the heads of horticultural enterprises, it is unlikely that prices in Moldovan retail will drop to such a level by the end of the first week of June.
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