According to the EastFruit Central Asian team, quite unexpected and dramatic changes in the fruit market have begun to take place in the region. The thousand-year-old traditions of high consumption of dried fruits in the region began to give way to new trends. The younger generation prefers fresh fruit even in the off-season, which leads to price anomalies. Primarily, it is noticeable in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

For example, spring frosts this year led to the loss of a significant part of apricots for drying, but this had little effect on their prices. Bakhtiyor Abduvokhidov, international consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), believes that the reason is a decrease in demand for dried fruits, primarily in the domestic market.

There are several reasons for it. First of all, new varieties and technologies for growing fruits emerge that can significantly extend the season of their fresh sale. This means that fresh fruits are available.

The second important factor is an increase in the level of income of the population, which allows them to pay more for fruit. This, in turn, justifies investments in new technologies for their cultivation and the introduction of new varieties.

The third factor is the dynamic development of modern technologies for storing fresh fruit. Fruit storage facilities with controlled atmosphere (RGS) and their variations, such as ULO, CA, DCA, etc., are not new to Central Asia. These technologies, in turn, allow preserving quality of table grapes, apples and other fruits almost throughout the year. The same fruits that are not subject to long-term storage can be stored for several weeks. A good example is cherries, which, in the case of hydrocooling and modified atmosphere bags (MAP) bags, can be stored in the fruit storage for up to two months without losing quality!

Another important point is the health benefits of consuming fresh fruit. This became especially noticeable with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when sales of some fruits, especially those high in vitamin C, skyrocketed. It has calmed down since then, but health-conscious consumers still prefer fresh fruit.

The fifth factor is the liberalization of international trade, which allows to reduce price fluctuations and increase the supply of fresh fruits in the markets of all countries of the region. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are good examples. There has been almost no trade between these countries for many years. However, it has been actively developing in recent years. This year, for example, Tajikistan, which suffered much less frost damage than Uzbekistan, is actively supplying fresh stone fruits and berries to the neighboring country.

Does this mean that the traditional drying of apricot, which we showed in the video “Dried apricots – how are they grown, harvested, dried and sold in Tajikistan ” is becoming a thing of the past? This is most likely the case. However, this does not mean that dried fruit is unnecessary. The global trade in dried fruits tends to decline, but high-quality products will always be in great demand.

Сообщение Dried fruits lose their leading position to fresh fruit market in Central Asia появились сначала на EastFruit.

Despite two waves of spring frosts in Ukraine this year, industry experts note that producers can harvest a larger harvest of apples than in 2019 when the country recorded a record low result. According to Oleksandr Khorev, head of the APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits project, this year, new orchards, which were laid 3-5 years ago, also began to bear fruit, increasing the volume of apples. Agri-gator reports that Ukrainian producers face a fundamental problem: losses during long-term storage and use of existing fruit storage technologies remain at a reasonably high level.

The reason for gardeners’ losses is that existing storage facilities, often outdated, do not correspond to the market’s realities. In turn, an insufficient number of fruit storage capacities hinders import substitution in the off-season and leads to price distortions and loss of business profitability. Today, in countries with a developed horticultural industry, almost all of the commercial apple harvest intended for fresh consumption is stored in refrigerators with a controlled atmosphere with ULO technology (ultra-low oxygen content from 1-3%).

“This technology makes it possible to store some apple varieties from season to season, and even more. Apples are stored for a long period with practically no loss of weight and presentation, and most importantly, without any chemicals and preparations. Analytics of fruit weight loss during long-term storage shows that when using modern storage facilities, apples, due to shrinkage, lose no more than 1-2.5% of their weight after six months of storage,” notes Anatoliy Bogdan, Director of LLC Insolar-Kholod, a company which is the leader of the Ukrainian market in terms of the volume of built storage facilities for fruits, including storage facilities with controlled atmosphere.

According to the expert, high-quality storage is an integral part of the apple-growing business, since for large projects with 40 hectares of intensive orchards and more, it is very important to ensure rhythmic supplies of products to customers in Ukraine and abroad, and it is impossible to do this without a modern storage facility.

In 2019, Insolar-Kholod company’s specialists built the largest in Ukraine innovative refrigeration complex with a controlled atmosphere, which was also equipped with an ultra-modern line for sorting and packaging apples for LLC Sady Dnipra. The innovative refrigerated storage can regulate all the fruit’s biochemical processes, which allows the apple to keep all its juiciness and freshness throughout the year.

The following components make the refrigerator unique: temperature and humidity control, regulation of the oxygen and carbon content in the chamber, the ability to absorb ethylene. An interesting fact is that the refrigerator can be controlled from anywhere in the world, holding only a smartphone.

As the head of the Insolar-Kholod company notes, currently, the storage of products is more relevant than ever before. The construction of such a high-quality storage facility with a controlled atmosphere is a necessary condition for those Ukrainian manufacturers who plan to supply products of the highest quality and at a reasonable price.

Сообщение Expert: Quality storage is an integral part of the apple-growing business появились сначала на EastFruit.