EastFruit analysts note a considerable relative increase in exports of raisins (dried grapes) from Uzbekistan to Japan in 2021. Exports of Uzbek raisins to Japan increased by 140% by the end of the year, but the export volume remained modest – 27 tonnes.

Nevertheless, since Japan is one of the most demanding countries in terms of product quality and safety and it rarely increases the volume of purchases from a single country, the trend of supply growth itself is a very important indicator. In addition to raisins, Uzbekistan exported 6 tonnes of dried apricots to Japan (in 2020 – 5 tonnes) and 2 tonnes of plums (in 2020 -22 tonnes).

Of the fresh fruits, only one small batch of 2 tonnes of fresh melons from Uzbekistan was delivered to Japan. Before that, Uzbek melons were not available on the Japanese market, meaning that this can be considered a breakthrough, unless the importer had no complaints about the first trial batch.

Uzbekistan is one of the world’s largest exporters of dried fruits. In terms of raisin exports, the country is periodically among the Top-5 exporting countries, but the volume of raisin exports from Uzbekistan fluctuates from year to year. The largest volume of export of Uzbek raisins was recorded in 2017 and amounted to 78 000 tonnes. The leader of the global raisin market is Turkey, exporting up to 280 000 tonnes. Iran is the second in the export of raisins, the United States are the third. Other major exporters of dried grapes include South Africa, Chile, Afghanistan and Argentina.

Сообщение Uzbekistan doubled exports of raisins to Japan in 2021 and delivered the first trial batch of melons появились сначала на EastFruit.

EastFruit analysts draw the attention of Ukrainian exporters to a very promising, but still new market of frozen raspberries – Japan. According to our estimates, Japan increased imports of raspberries by 25% in value terms and by 5% in volume in 2021. Given a sharp rise in global prices for frozen raspberries, many countries are reducing their imports, but Japan continued to increase purchases.

“First of all, Japan is notable as one of the most stable markets in the world, demonstrating a steady growth trend. The second reason why Ukrainian exporters should pay attention to the Japanese market is a high level of prices with high quality requirements. The third reason is that the main competitors of Ukraine, Serbia and Poland, are already supplying frozen raspberries to Japan, and Serbia is their second largest supplier to China after Chile.” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Chile and Serbia provided up to 65-70% of all frozen raspberry supplies to the Japanese market in 2021. New Zealand and the United States account for another 12% of the total volume of Japanese raspberry imports. The share of frozen raspberry imports from Denmark, Poland and France is about 2% each.

Noteworthy, even Bosnia and Herzegovina is exporting frozen raspberries to Japan, but there has not been a single supply from Ukraine so far. At the same time, Ukraine continues to supply the bulk of its raspberries to Poland, which, in turn, makes good money on their re-export.

Recall that in 2021, Ukraine made some progress when it exported Ukrainian raspberries to the United States and Canada for the first time. According to our estimates, the exports of frozen berries brought Ukraine about $200 million in exports earnings in 2021, becoming the main source of income for the fruit and vegetable industry. The rise in prices for raspberries, according to EastFruit analysts, has become the main event among the TOP-10 events of the fruit and vegetable market in 2021. Given the rush around raspberries, “Raspberry Boom-2” is about to start in the country and disappoint many investors.

By the way, Ukraine has become the leader in the growth rate of frozen raspberry exports in the world, while Poland is the fastest to increase the volume of raspberry imports. This proves once again that the access of Ukrainian suppliers to the frozen raspberry market in Japan is currently topical.

Сообщение Ukraine should pay attention to Japan’s growing frozen raspberry market появились сначала на EastFruit.

Georgian company Aromaproduct exported kiwis to Japan according to the state agency Produce in Georgia. Exports were carried out with the support of this agency as well as the Georgian Embassy in Japan.

The group Aromproduct LTD and Georgia’s Natural has been operating since 1985. Since 1994, Aromaproduct underwent extensive restructuring and modernization to become an international distributor of high-quality natural fruit and vegetable products. The company produces natural juices as well as various canned fruits and vegetables.

Since 2006, Georgia’s Natural/Aromaproduct has begun to develop organic production by growing organic vegetables and fruits (or collecting wild-grown) and then processing for finished products. The company’s products are exported to several dozen countries around the world. Aromaproduct was one of 14 Georgian companies that recently took part in GulFood 2021, the international food, beverage and industry exhibition held in Dubai this February.

Read also: Georgian company to resume supplies of wild-grown organic asparagus in spring

The Produce in Georgia agency notes one of the issues to be discussed during the planned visit of the Japanese delegation to Georgia will be the issue of increasing the exports of Georgian products to this country.

The trade turnover between Japan and Georgia amounted to $255 million in 2018, it was $269.6 million in 2019, and $176 million in 2020. The share of Georgian exports in the total volume of trade turnover between the countries is small, but in 2018-2020 exports were growing at $11.4 million, $12.3 million and $16.8 million respectively.

Сообщение Georgian company Aromaproduct exported kiwis to Japan появились сначала на EastFruit.

A delegation from the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan visited the Japanese city of Nagoya. There, a meeting was held with Masaharu Sugie, executive director of Tokura Shoji, as reported by the Dunyo news agency.

Masaharu Sugie greatly appreciated the quality of dried fruits – grapes, prunes, and apricots – imported from Uzbekistan, and expressed his readiness to further expand the supply of goods to provide the Japanese population with an opportunity to enjoy the high quality and special taste of Uzbek products.

See also (in Russian): Apples, melons and cherry tomatoes – leaders in price reduction for the year in Uzbekistan

Tokura Shoji’s significant interest in products from Uzbekistan is evidenced by the inclusion of Uzbek dried fruits in the company’s catalog, which is published regularly and distributed among their business partners.

Earlier EastFruit reported that in 2020, Uzbekistan would continue to rapidly increase the supply of fresh melons and apricots to the Ukrainian market. In the first nine months of 2020, Ukraine imported 3,100 tons of Uzbek melons and 2,200 tons of Uzbek fresh apricots. Compared to the same period in 2019, the volume of imports of melons and apricots from Uzbekistan to Ukraine increased 2.9 and 2.3 times respectively.

Сообщение Japan to increase imports of Uzbek dried fruits появились сначала на EastFruit.