According to EastFruit analysts, in 2021 Ukraine increased the exports of blueberries by 65% in volume ​​compared to 2020. At the same time, export volumes of fresh blueberries were 18% lower than in the record-breaking 2019. The downward trend in the price of blueberries, which is unpleasant for Ukrainian exporters, should also be noted – the average export price for blueberries in 2021 was on average 9% lower than in 2020.

“We have to admit that the structure of blueberry exports from Ukraine has deteriorated. Its geography, unfortunately, shows a bias not towards direct exports, but sales to Poland and Belarus. Polish traders then re-export Ukrainian blueberries to other EU countries, earning additional money on them. Belarus, in turn, re-exports Ukrainian blueberries to the Russian market. And these two countries accounted for 65% of the total export of Ukrainian blueberries. The third-largest importer of Ukrainian blueberries is the Netherlands, which is also a major intermediary. Therefore, more than 70% of blueberries from Ukraine were exported to intermediary countries and only about one-third to consumer countries.” says Andriy Yarmak, an economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

“Considering that the area planted with blueberries in Ukraine, according to various estimates of market participants and experts, is growing by 600-700 or even 1000 hectares annually, we should have expected export growth to levels above 2019 in 2021. However, this does not happen. I do not think that the main reason is the growth in the capacity of the domestic market, although this trend has indeed been present in recent years. In my opinion, the main reason is that Ukrainian growers  cannot yet find an effective technology for growing blueberries, have problems with volume consolidation, post-harvest handling, and do not make enough efforts to promote berries, primarily in foreign markets. This is confirmed by the data on the sale of more than 70% of the berries to intermediary countries, which means that Ukrainian growers have lost millions of dollars in revenue” Andriy Yarmak notes.

In 2021, Ukrainian growers complained about the collapse in blueberry prices, claiming it was record low on the domestic market. However, in their analytical material EastFruit analysts proved that blueberry prices were not record low, although they decreased compared to the abnormal 2020. Evgeniy Kharlan, Director for Strategy and Development of Nikdaria Company (TM IBerry) during the 17th International Conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine-2021. New Investment Opportunities” on December 3 said that the Ukrainian blueberry market is in for a big shock if blueberry areas continues to grow. This will come true if the berry growers do not start cooperation following the example of fruit producers, who have been jointly selling apples and other fruits for more than a year through the export platform of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association.

Currently, many countries are actively expanding the area planted with blueberries. While many believe that blueberry consumption will grow faster than production growth, this has not yet happened. The world’s leading exporters such as Peru and Chile are forced to reduce the average export price of their berries every year. At the same time, labor shortages and rising harvesting costs are already putting pressure on further expansion opportunities in these countries. Even in the largest EU blueberry-producing countries, such as Spain, growers got a significantly lower price for blueberries for several years in a row than Ukrainian growers. This means that a decrease in blueberry price in Ukraine is inevitable, given an explosive growth in costs in 2022.

Accordingly, blueberry growers of Ukraine should urgently consolidate their efforts to find important technological and marketing solutions in order to ensure sustainable development for this segment. Already now, many investors prefer to invest money in the cultivation of raspberries, the prices for which in 2021 were even higher than the prices for blueberries. The cultivation of raspberries is much cheaper and the investment is lower.

Сообщение Ukraine sharply increased blueberry exports in 2021 due to a drop in prices появились сначала на EastFruit.

Despite low prices for apples in Ukraine and Moldova and a failure to sell outdated apple varieties such as Idared in Poland, the first news began to appear on the market, which can be cautiously considered somewhat positive for farmers. Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), talked about them at the 17th international conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine-2021. New Investment Opportunities”, which took place on December 2-3, 2021. The event was organized by the project “APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits” with the media support of the EastFruit International Platform and the Ukrainian Horticultural Association (UHA).

The first good news for the apple business in Eastern Europe can be considered a sharp rise in apple prices in Iran despite rumors about a decrease in the apple harvest there. Indeed, Iran continues to increase its apple exports. And, as we wrote in the analytical review of the apple market #freshapplecrisis, Iran is one of the main reasons for the difficult situation on the market.

The second good news is the high rate of apple sales in the first months of the season. This gives hope that the largest producing countries will enter the second half of the season with lower apple stocks than in the 2020/21 season. Then, apple growers in Moldova were forced to sell apples in spring and summer for processing into apple juice concentrate at the lowest prices. Apple prices collapsed not only in Moldova then, but also in Ukraine, Russia and Poland, but this did not help to intensify the demand, since berries and other summer fruits became available on the market. This season, reports of high sales rates come from Moldova, Ukraine, Italy and even from Iran.

The third good news is reports of a lower-than-expected apple harvest in the US. This could ease the pressure on apple prices in lucrative markets for apple exporters, such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Also, according to Andriy Yarmak, one should not discount the fact that apple prices in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries this season are higher than a year earlier. This means that apples from Moldova and Ukraine can be supplied to these countries, which have imported very few apples in recent years.

He also noticed that the UAE is now buying more apples than usual, because Dubai is now hosting the largest exhibition in the world – Expo 2020 (postponed for a year due to COVID-19 pandemic). This exhibition attracts many tourists from all over the world and will last until the end of March 2022. The UAE’s demand for apples will significantly increase during this time, and this is an excellent opportunity for apple exporters from Ukraine, who have shown their potential in this market.

Сообщение 5 good news for the apple business in Eastern Europe – Andriy Yarmak появились сначала на EastFruit.

There is an essential aspect in the investment in any industry, including horticulture: you should always strive to be number 1 or number 2 in the market. However, leadership does not have to be in the industry – a market participant can create his own niche or segment where he can work comfortably with minimal competition.

Considering that there are tens of thousands of fruit and vegetable growers on the market, how can they become number 1 or number 2? It’s very simple – instead of competing with each other, growers can work in the market together. Cooperation is a real fast track for the development of the Ukrainian fruit and vegetable industry.

This opinion was expressed by Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), during the 17th international conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine-2021. New investment opportunities”. The event was organized by the APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits project with the information support of the International Platform EastFruit and the Ukrainian Horticultural Association (UHA).

When fruit and vegetable market players complain that the state does not pay enough attention to the sector and does not help to open new sales markets, it should be remembered that this sector is the least attractive for the state in terms of exports. It is also less attractive to investors. When a large investor chooses a country or industry to invest, he wants to invest a lot of money in order to earn even more in the future. However, the fruit and vegetable sector of Ukraine consists of many small and very small players, which are not interesting for a large investor, especially when there is a chance to invest in the grain or oilseed industry. The level of market, weather and technological risks in the cultivation and sale of vegetables, fruits and berries is several times higher than for most other agricultural products.

“In addition, the agricultural land market has now opened in Ukraine. Many investors prefer to buy land than invest their funds in growing vegetables and fruits. The next problem is the sharp rise in global prices for grains and oilseeds, which has made their cultivation a much more profitable business. Therefore, even small farmers in Ukraine often wonder: why grow onions or potatoes, if it is easier to sow wheat or corn and get a comparable income from 1 hectare, without worrying that the harvest will deteriorate during storage or prices will plummet. Instead, prices for grains never fall as sharply as prices for potatoes or other vegetables. In the case of grains, there are also many traders in the market who are always ready to buy the crop, while the sales of onions of potatoes is problematic in the years of their overproduction.

With this in mind, horticultural growers should remember that they operate in a small and very specific sector where size matters. Overcoming many of these obstacles, reducing business risks and increasing sales prices is possible only by combining efforts – cooperation and more active participation in industry associations.” Andriy Yarmak explains.

The economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also notes that there are niches in the fruit and vegetable sector in almost all segments, but without cooperation of growers in the industry, none of them will develop actively enough.

“The fact is that these segments are very small in terms of their volumes, and importers want to work with large systemic players. A producer can be big, but not have systematic work to ensure sustainable product quality and good relations with importers – this is very important. And cooperation itself is a fast path to development.” explains Andriy Yarmak.

The specialist also gave an example of the creation in Ukraine of the first UHA trading platform operating on the principle of open accounting.

“It helps growers not only with exports but also with the sales to the trade chains of Ukraine. Each producer participating in the platform can sell their products there, paying only a small percentage for the development of the project. We recently agreed that this platform will form its own fund used to pay for product marketing needs – the opportunity of growers to take part in trade missions, exhibitions, as well as advertising. This platform is a practical confirmation that cooperation in the fruit and vegetable sector works, and the formats can be various,” Andriy Yarmak notes.

Andriy Yarmak also reports that very often Ukrainian farmers ask themselves the question: what to grow? “But this is the wrong approach. The question should not be what to grow, but how to grow, where and why. If a producer aims only to make money, then, as a rule, he will not be successful. After all, money should be a consequence of the success of a business and a business cannot fail to make money,” the expert sums up.

Сообщение Cooperation is a way to accelerate the development of the Ukrainian fruit and vegetable industry появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, walnuts, which have been leading in terms of exports revenue in the fruit and vegetable segment for many years, in 2020 their leading position was taken by frozen berries for the first time. In 2021, the leadership of frozen berries in this category was further strengthened, especially given the rapid rise in prices for frozen raspberries.

Revenue from the exports of frozen berries and fruits in 2020 reached a record $111 million, having increased by one third in a year. On the other hand, revenue from walnut exports fell by 30% to the lowest level in the last 4 years and amounted to $97 million.

“Global walnut prices have set an anti-record in 2020 due to the oversupply of high-quality walnuts in the US market. This was the main reason for the decline in Ukraine’s export earnings in this category. Last year the planting of new walnut orchards almost stopped in Ukraine, nurseries had to dispose of the seedlings, as there was no demand, and some growers began to remove fruit-bearing walnut orchards. In my opinion, this was a rushed decision. The prices for walnuts are breaking records this year again, but this time they are already record high globally.” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

“Unfortunately, many do not understand that walnut farming is a business for decades, so one cannot be guided by the prices of one year to make strategic business decisions. In 2020, I convinced many people that now is the perfect time to go into the walnut business, because high-quality walnut seedlings in 2020 and even 2021 could be bought really cheap. However, business needs to be viewed comprehensively and strategically. I will tell about the strategies of nuts, berries and other fruit and vegetable businesses and their successful cases on December 3 during the conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2021. New Investment Opportunities“. Given the opportunity of acquiring land ownership, fruit and vegetable investments are now becoming very relevant. I hope that my tips will help many to avoid mistakes at the initial stage of investment, or to adjust existing investment projects,” says Andriy Yarmak.

The expert explains the reasons for the new records in the exports of frozen berries not only by the rise in raspberry prices, but also by the growth in the production of frozen berries in the country.

“Back in 2017-2018, Ukraine could earn almost as much from the export of frozen berries as in 2020, but the freezing capacity was insufficient to process all the berries at that time, so some of berries were sold cheap to the fresh market, used for the production of juices, or even remained unharvested. In 2021, Ukraine will update the record for the exports of frozen berries. Moreover, the proceeds from their exports may even exceed $200 million! By the harvest of 2022, the capacity for freezing fruits and vegetables in Ukraine will reach its peak and Ukraine will be ready for new export records, however, global prices for raspberries in the new season are unlikely to be as favorable. Therefore, already now you need to consider the strategy for exporting frozen berries, so as not to continue losing money on delivering them to Poland, but to start a direct and more profitable exports. I also plan to tell you about this in detail during the conference” the FAO expert clarifies.

According to analysts at EastFruit, Ukraine’s exports revenue from walnuts in 2021 will also grow, but this growth will not be as sharp as the growth in exports of frozen berries. Accordingly, the revenue gap between frozen berries and walnuts will continue to narrow.

Сообщение Frozen berries will bring $200 million in revenues to Ukraine, increasing the lead over walnuts появились сначала на EastFruit.

During the audit of the fruit and vegetable departments of supermarkets in five countries of the region, EastFruit experts determined, among other things, the average retail prices in stores in Kyiv, Chisinau, Tbilisi, Dushanbe and Tashkent. Since the project also conducts weekly monitoring of wholesale prices, we had enough information to compare retail markups in different cities.

One of the most interesting surprises was the extremely low average markup for Ukrainian apples in Ukrainian supermarkets. The average markup of 32% for apples in Kyiv was higher than that in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, where it was 24%. However, the margin in absolute terms was only around $0.09 – about 2.4 UAH/kg, which is less than in any other capital of the region where we conducted an audit. At the same time, retail prices for apples in Ukraine were the lowest among all countries in the region. For instance, a poor Tajik consumer paid 3 times more for one kilogram of apples in a supermarket in Dushanbe than a better-off Ukrainian consumer.

Is it good or bad? Let’s figure it out.

Let’s start with the retail price level. Low apple prices are an advantage for consumers, because they allow an increase in apple consumption. This means that growers benefit, as well. We note that we did not take into account the prices for apples that did not meet the minimum quality criteria, otherwise the average price in Kyiv would have been even lower.

Despite an average price of 9.75 UAH/kg ($0.36) for the most affordable Ukrainian apples, there are also the Pink Lady brand apples on the shelves of Kyiv supermarkets at over 150-170 UAH /kg ($5.5-6.3), i.e. 15 and more times more expensive. If you ask producers whether they would like to sell apples 15 times more expensive, the majority of them will not refuse. However, not only improvement of the quality is needed, but also investments in marketing and promotion. So far, no one can legally grow Cripps Pink apple variety sold under the Pink Lady brand in Ukraine. These apples are in good demand, since they are sold in Ukraine even when Ukrainian apples are so cheap.

As for the markups, there is no doubt that the higher the markup, the more profitable it is for the store to sell this product, provided that the turnover remains high. It is obvious that apples are used as a loss-leader this year – a product that attracts a buyer, but on which the chain does not make much money. Nevertheless, the assortment of apples is high, and, besides the cheapest ones, there are those where the supermarket’s markups higher. Many buyers prefer a higher quality product, even at a higher price. However, the presence of very cheap products on the shelves affects the sales of more expensive ones.

Therefore, we believe the main goal of stores of all formats should be the absence of low-quality products. Low-quality apples or other vegetables and fruits spoils the general perception of the store, and not only of the produce department. In addition, apples are already the cheapest fruits. This means that it is doubly unprofitable for the chain to reduce the markup on them.

Supermarkets in Chisinau earn 3 times more than supermarkets in Kyiv, even on the cheapest apple varieties. Tbilisi is the closest in terms of margin, where the chains earn on average about $0.14 per kg of apples, but this is 1.5 times more than in Kiev.

You can learn more about the retail trade of vegetables and fruits, including the volumes of apple sales in supermarkets during the first international Retail Forum on December 2, 2021 in Kyiv. Registration for participation in the event and in the conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2021” is available at this link.

Сообщение With low apple prices in Ukraine, supermarkets earn very little from apple sales появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to information provided by trade sources in the region to EastFruit, the apple harvest in Iran was significantly lower in 2021 than last year. Although there is no reliable statistics on the volume of apple production in Iran, representatives of the wholesale trade say that prices for Iranian apples are much higher (30-40%) this year than last year and reach $0.35 per kg (FCA). Iranian suppliers explain the rise in prices by the fact that there were less apples harvested. This is good news for apple exporters from Ukraine and Moldova, given the huge influence of Iran on the global and regional apple markets, which we covered in the #freshapplecrisis article.

Despite rumors about a decrease in the apple harvest, Iran continued to quickly increase its exports in the new season, which contradicts with the alleged low harvest. 134 thousand tonnes of fresh apples were exported from the country In August-October 2021 – twice as much as in the months in 2020. A decrease in production in Iran is not yet confirmed by information on the volume of trade, although it still seems to be possible to experts.

“The apple harvest in Iran in 2021 could well have declined, as the technological level of many producers is still low there. This means there may be frequency of fruiting, especially after a record harvest in 2020. The growth in exports in the first months of the 2021/22 season can be explained by the fact that Iran sold more apples last year than usually in the second half of the season, hoping for a rise in prices. However, prices turned out to be even lower by the end of the season than during the apple harvest. This year, it is likely that Iranian apple exporters want to avoid last year’s mistakes. The second reason is a sharp increase in demand for Iranian apples from India, where Iran became the main supplier for the first time at the end of last season. In the new season, exports to India continue to grow rapidly. The third reason is the expected decline in apple production in the United States, which means even greater prospects for growth in demand for Iranian apples in Asia. The fourth reason is the growing demand for Iranian apples in the Middle East, primarily in Iraq and the UAE, where over 105 thousand tonnes of fresh apples from Iran were supplied in the first three months of the new season. On the other hand, apple prices are affected by the logistics component, which remains very high this year,” explains Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Andriy Yarmak and other leading experts of the fruit market will present a detailed analysis of the prospects for the global apple market during the 17th international conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2021” on December 3, 2021 in Kyiv (registration is available at this link).

Quite unexpectedly, Turkmenistan that bought more than 10 thousand tonnes of apples from Iran was among the largest importers of Iranian apples in the first months of the new season. However, the leader was Iraq by a wide margin from others, where about 92 thousand tonnes of apples grown in Iran were exported. The supply of apples from Iran to Russia decreased in the new season – almost 3 times at once, to just 3.4 thousand tonnes.

In total, Iran exported 963 thousand tonnes of apples in the 2020/21 season, almost the same as China, the global leader in fresh apple exports. Thus, Iran almost became the fourth country in history, which managed to export more than 1 million tonnes of apples per season. Previously, only China, Poland and Italy did this. If a decrease in the apple harvest in Iran in 2021 is not confirmed and the export volumes remain as high, Iran may well become the leader in global apple exports in the new season and reach 1 million tonnes of fresh apple exports.

Сообщение Iran keeps increasing apple exports despite rumors on lower harvest появились сначала на EastFruit.

During the audit of the fruit and vegetable departments of supermarkets in five countries of the region, EastFruit experts determined, among other things, the average retail prices in stores in Kyiv, Chisinau, Tbilisi, Dushanbe and Tashkent. Since the project also conducts weekly monitoring of wholesale prices, we had enough information to compare retail markup for different products in different cities.

This information allows us to draw very interesting conclusions. For example, with the lowest prices for potatoes in the region, both in wholesale and retail in Ukraine, the retail markup in supermarkets in Kyiv was the highest for potatoes and amounted to 85% of the wholesale price!

Learn more about the retail trade of vegetables and fruits, including the sales volume of potatoes in the chains during the first international Retail Forum on December 2, 2021 in Kyiv. You can register to take part in the Forum and in the conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2021” at this link.

“It is obvious that Ukrainian consumers have got used to high retail prices for potatoes in 2019-2020. Therefore, despite a sharp decline in wholesale prices after the harvest in 2021, supermarket chains were in no hurry to reduce retail prices. Notably, the wholesale price for potatoes in Ukraine decreased by 31% over the year, but the retail price in Kyiv did not decrease at all, while supermarkets in other regions still reduced retail prices by 1-5%”, – says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

However, he asks not to blame supermarket chains. “In part, potato prices in retail did not go down because we noticed an increase in the quality of potatoes in stores, although not sharp enough. High-quality potatoes can and should be sold at a higher price, because low-quality potatoes on the shelves lead to huge losses for all market participants. The second reason is the high growth rates of supermarkets’ costs for staff, rent, energy and other, forcing them to raise markups on products so as not go bankrupt. One should not forget that the costs of supermarkets in Kyiv are higher than in the capitals of other countries where we conducted the audit, and retail prices for potatoes are the lowest” the expert explains.

The retail price for potatoes in the capitals of Moldova and Tajikistan is on average 40% higher than in Kyiv, and in the capitals of Georgia and Uzbekistan – more than 1.5 times higher. The lowest markup for the sale of potatoes at the time of the audit was in Dushanbe – only 17% against 85% in Kiev. However, the costs were also much lower there.

The situation is similar in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan – the market for potatoes was only 28%, although it was in Uzbekistan that the supply of potatoes was the tensest. In Tbilisi, the markup of supermarket chains when selling potatoes was average, but in Chisinau it almost reached the Kyiv level and amounted to 76%.

Сообщение Ukraine has the lowest prices for potatoes, but the highest retail markup появились сначала на EastFruit.

Ukrainian growers started raising prices for table beets this week, analysts of the EastFruit project report. The rise in their prices and high demand led to the supply of imported table beets. The first batches of table beets produced in Poland became available on the Ukrainian market this week.

According to the daily monitoring of the project, prices for table beets increased by an average of 1.5 times over the week, and today Ukrainian farmers are ready to ship them at UAH 9-12/kg ($0.34-0.45/kg). Market participants explain such a rapid rise in prices by a rather limited supply of table beets on the market. Most growers prefer to abandon their sales in the hope of further price increases in this segment.

Traders immediately reacted by starting to supply Polish beets to Ukraine this week. Today, the volumes are small, and the selling prices for imported table beets are announced in the range of 8-8.50 UAH/kg ($0.30-0.32/kg).

Thus, table beets in Ukrainian farms cost on average 3.3 times more now than at the end of November 2020. At the same time, if Ukrainian growers continue to refrain from selling them, most of the key market players assume that imports from Poland may sharply grow next week.

We will talk in more detail about the sale of vegetables in borscht set in supermarket chains in Ukraine on December 2 at the first international conference “Retail Forum-2021“. We will also discuss investments in fruit and vegetable production under cover at the 17^th international conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine-2021. New investment opportunities” the next day, on December 3.

Сообщение The rise in prices for table beetroot in Ukraine resulted in the supply of imported products появились сначала на EastFruit.

EastFruit experts draw attention to the huge interest in the cultivation of raspberries in all countries of the region given a record rise in global prices for frozen raspberries since summer 2021. The interest is especially high in Ukraine, where quite a few modern enterprises for freezing berries are already operating. There is also a boom in investments in new freezing capacity for raspberries, as well as other berries, fruits and vegetables.

We are approached by fairly large farmers growing grain, oilseeds and other crops, who would like to diversify their business. In addition, Ukrainians are actively buying raspberry seedlings, regardless of their origin and quality. As a rule, households buy seedlings for 0,05-0,25 ha and rarely for large areas.

Should grain growers, as well as households, invest in raspberry cultivation? Many of those who did not invest, still doubt. Experts will give a comprehensive answer to this question during the 17th international conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2021. New Investment Opportunities” to be held on December 3, 2021 in Kyiv as part of the FTrade Club.

In particular, FAO economist Andriy Yarmak will show a strategic comprehensive approach to this business in his presentation “30 years of mistakes in investments in the fruit and vegetable sector of Ukraine and real solution  to reach promising profitable and sustainable investments. TOP-10 most interesting actual market niches”. The efficiency of investments in cultivation will be revealed by Olexandr Yareschenko, Deputy Director of the Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Taras Bashtannyk, President of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association (UHA). Yulia Tymoshenko, who has experience in creating from scratch and developing a modern business of freezing and exporting berries will cover the efficiency of freezing raspberries.

Now we offer everyone who considers planting raspberries, to try and come to preliminary conclusions by answering a number of simple questions.

1. Do you know the history of the pricing of raspberries and the reasons why their prices periodically fell below production cost, or skyrocketed to very high levels? If not, we advise you to read our article “Raspberry Boom 2”, which partially answers these questions. We will tell you more at the conference mentioned above.
2. Raspberries are not cereals. Do you realize that the result of growing raspberries is much more dependent on the qualifications of experts, weather risks are much higher, more operations per hectare need to be carried out and material costs per hectare are much higher? In addition, the business is planned for many years, and exit from it threatens with a complete loss of investment, while in cereals you can change the crop or variety for the next year of production.
3. Do you realize that growing raspberries will require hiring a large number of seasonal workers (3 to 5 per hectare), to whom adequate conditions for work, food and possibly housing should be provided?
4. Will the raspberries be grown for freezing or for the fresh market? Do you know which varieties are best for freezing and which ones for the fresh market and why?
5. Do you understand the huge difference in growing technology, harvesting phases, processing and packaging of raspberries for the fresh market or freezing?
6. Do you have the option of cooling raspberries after harvesting?
7. Do you know for sure where you will sell your raspberries and do you have options B, C, D and E if this distribution channel abandons the products, which is quite often the case?
8. Do you know the key indicators of the quality of raspberries from the point of view of the buyer, and how this affects the price?
9. What varieties of raspberries will be grown: summer or remontant and why?
10. Are you familiar with the weather and market risks when growing raspberries? By the way, you can read about effective methods of dealing with weather risks here.
11. Did you know that global demand for raspberries dropped sharply after a sharp rise in prices in mid-2021 and some countries started to cut imports? If not, we covered it partially here.
12. Do you know about the potential of the global market for freezing berries, fruits and vegetables, as well as the main factors influencing its development?

These are just a few general questions, to which we have already partially answered. We will reveal them in more detail on December 3 in Kyiv at the 17th international conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2021. New Investment Opportunities”.

We believe that investing in raspberry cultivation in Ukraine is quite profitable even now, but only provided there is a clear understanding of the strategy and all the nuances of such investments. We will give you all the necessary information for building the right strategy for the raspberry business on the conference on December 3rd in Kyiv. Registration for the event is open here.

Сообщение Should I plant raspberries? Checklist to define all the pros and cons появились сначала на EastFruit.

Ukrainian growers are forced to reduce prices for greenhouse tomatoes, despite their current season coming to an end, analysts of the EastFruit project report. The main reason for the reduction in the price of greenhouse tomatoes was the presence on the market of large volumes of substandard products.

Local greenhouses ship tomatoes at 20-27 UAH/kg ($0.77-1.04/kg) today, which is on average 18% cheaper than at the end of the last week.

It should be noted that the main offer on the Ukrainian market now is Turkish tomato, the exports of which to Ukraine started at the beginning of this month. Imported tomatoes are sold at 22-30 UAH/kg ($0.84-1.15/kg), which is on average 14% cheaper than at the month.

Read also: Ukrainian growers raise prices for table beets despite low demand

The prices for greenhouse tomatoes in Ukraine are on average 10% lower now than in the same period last year. The next cycle of local greenhouse tomatoes should start in February, but today this remains in question, since most of the representatives of greenhouse complexes have not yet decided whether they will grow tomatoes in the next cycle due to a sharp rise in energy prices.

We will discuss more details of the trade in greenhouse vegetables in Ukrainian supermarkets chains on December 2 at the first international conference “Retail Forum-2021”. Investments in fruit and vegetable production in greenhouses will be covered the next day, December 3, at the 17th International conference “Vegetables and fruits of Ukraine-2021. New investment opportunities”.

Сообщение Ukraine: prices for greenhouse tomatoes began to decline at the end of the season появились сначала на EastFruit.