This season will be a huge test for Polish growers and exporters of fruits, analysts of the EastFruit project say. The main reason for low exports in the current season will not be the overproduction of apples in Poland, but relations with Belarus that was the leader in purchasing Polish apples last season.

In 2020, Belarus was the leader among the importers of Polish apples, and imported more than 121 thousand tons worth 204 million PLN. Germany that bought 76 thousand tons of apples was second, and Egypt that bought 75 thousand tons was third. But they will not be able to compensate for the loss of the Belarusian market this season, like no one has managed to compensate for the loss of the Russian market so far.

According to the fresh-market website, an increase in logistics costs will also be a problem in the current season. However, it will affect long-distance exporters the most, while those who trade in the neighboring countries will benefit. In this context, China and the countries of the southern hemisphere are losing the most from the growth in costs.

On the other hand, the low price is a factor that can have a positive effect on the Polish exports of apples. The demand for apples is very low today. Thus, apples of the “Idared” variety go on sale from 0.25 PLN/kg ($0.06/kg)! Varieties such as Ligol or Champion are sold at 0.70 PLN/kg ($0.18/kg). Only Gala and Golden apples are sold at more than 1 PLN/kg ($0.25/kg).

Сообщение Poland loses its largest apple export market появились сначала на EastFruit.

EastFruit analysts draw attention to an interesting trend in Poland. Despite Poland being one of the world leaders in the exports of fresh apples, at times displacing China from the first place in terms of exports, it has ever more clearly shifted its focus from the exports of apples to the exports of fresh pears in recent years.

“Over the past five years, Poland has been increasing its exports of pears at an average rate of 23% per year, or almost 13 thousand tons, and reduced the exports of apples by 4% or 34 thousand tons per year. At the same time, Poland increased its pear exports faster than any other country from the world’s top ten exporters of pears. Since bad weather had an equally negative effect on both apples and pears, this factor can be ignored. Thus, the shift in trends in favor of pears looks quite obvious.” explains Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Due to the rapid growth in pear exports, Poland became 9th in the world among the leading exporters of pears, surpassing Italy and Portugal, by the end of 2020. According to EastFruit forecasts, based on information from Polish sources, Poland could export more than 100 thousand tons of pears in the 2020/21 season for the first time. The export of pears from Poland was only 25 thousand tons five years ago!

In the structure of Poland’s fruit exports, pears are currently ranked fourth in terms of revenue, after apples, frozen berries and fresh blueberries. Experts foresee that the revenues from the export of Polish pears will only grow.

It is notable that out of the ten largest world exporters of pears, only three countries are reducing their export volumes, while all the rest are increasing them. Poland is increasing exports the fastest in relative terms, as Andriy Yarmak already noted. However, Turkey is also showing similar growth rates. It is still 12th in the world, but given its success in the apple market, there is no doubt that Turkey will actively increase export volumes of pears, as well. Now the export of Turkish fresh pears is growing by 9 thousand tons annually.

Read also: The Ukrainian fruit producer “Sady Dnipra” will establish 30 hectares of pear orchard in 2021

The USA (by 8 thousand tons per year), Italy (by 11 thousand tons per year) and Chile (by 5 thousand tons per year) are reducing the exports of fresh pears. China, the Netherlands, Argentina and Belgium remain the leaders in the global ranking, exporting about 1.5-1.6 million tons of fresh pears annually. These four countries account for about 58% of world exports.

Among the countries of our region, the growth of pear exports by Central Asian countries should be noted. However, it is assumed that mainly Chinese pears are exported to Russia from there, as China cannot supply its pears directly to the Russian market now. Azerbaijan also has large export volumes, but most likely these are re-exported pears from Iran.

Moldova and Ukraine, despite good conditions for growing and exporting pears, so far do not pay much attention to them. However, it is worth noting the emerging trend of establishing modern pear orchards by the famous Ukrainian company “Sady Dnipra”, known primarily for its premium apples under the UApple brand. Primarily, the company plans to sell pears on the domestic market, since Ukraine is a net importer of pears.

Сообщение Polish growers are switching from apples to pears появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, following the results of the 2020/21 season (July-June), Ukraine has once again managed to consistently increase the supply of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables to Poland. Ukraine’s revenue from fruit exports to Poland rose to a record $ 78.5 million, making Poland the main market for Ukrainian products. Moreover, trade balance in fruit and vegetables between Ukraine and Poland was positive for Ukraine.

Thus, in the 2020/21 season, Ukraine’s revenue from the supply of fruits, berries, vegetables and nuts to Poland increased by 45% at once comparing to the 2019/20 season. Revenue has grown 3.4 times over the past five years.

“Poland has unexpectedly become a good alternative for Ukraine to the Russian market for the exports of fruits and berries, although the specifics and structure of supplies to Poland are very different from what was previously exported to Russia. Poland became an example and incentive for fundamental changes in the structure of production and approaches to quality control of fruit and vegetables. They allowed Ukraine to significantly increase exports despite, or even thanks to the ban on the supply of vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts to Russia. In fact, Ukrainian producers have begun to study the experience of Poland and rely on products with higher added value that could be in demand outside the CIS countries,” Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says.

He also explains that Poland benefits from the increased supply of fruits and berries from Ukraine, too.

“Poland serves as an example and as a marketing channel for Ukraine in the fruit and berry market. Many positions, especially frozen berries and fruits, entering the Polish market, are re-exported under Polish brands or Polish companies to other countries. Thus, Poland gets tens of millions of dollars of additional revenue. In addition, thanks to re-exports from Ukraine, Poland maintains a leading position in the world in the exports of frozen fruits. Of course, one should not deny a negative impact Ukraine has on the volume of domestic production of berries in Poland.” Andriy Yarmak explains.

What does Ukraine export to Poland? First of all, as already noted, these are frozen berries, in particular, frozen Ukrainian raspberries. Frozen raspberries accounted for one third of all exports to Poland in value terms, namely $ 26 million, in the 2020/21 season. In general, the exports of frozen berries and fruits to Poland brought Ukraine almost $ 50 million in revenue, increasing by 65% ​​over the year. At the same time, the exports volume increased by 44% to 23 thousand tons, which was also a new record. In addition to frozen raspberries, Ukraine also supplied frozen wild bilberries, strawberries, and other berries.

Last season, for the first time, Ukraine sharply (5.2 times) increased the exports of walnuts to Poland, and they became second in terms of revenue in the fruit and vegetable trade segment. The following positions of Ukrainian fruit and vegetable exports followed: fresh cucumber, frozen vegetables, fresh tomatoes, fresh blueberries, mushrooms, fresh raspberries and watermelon.

Given the market trends and production volumes in 2021, it cannot be ruled out that in the 2021/22 season Ukraine will again increase the supply of fruits and vegetables to Poland.

Сообщение Ukraine keeps increasing exports of fruits and vegetables to Poland появились сначала на EastFruit.