Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Ukrainians switch from bananas to apples
As to information of analysts from Fruit-Inform Project, for the first 10 months of 2010, Ukrainians decreased consumption of bananas by 3% comparatively with the same period of the last year.
“For the fourth year in a row, Ukrainians are buying less and less bananas, switching to traditional apples in consumption structure”, - Andriy Yarmak, Head of Fruit-Inform Project, tells. “The main reason lies in growth of domestic production of apples and decrease of prices for them with respect to other fruits, primarily to bananas”, - the expert continues.
According to data of Fruit-Inform Project, consumption of bananas has already decreased by 27% comparatively with the record-breaking level reached in 2007. Consumption of apples increased by 25% within the same period, and currently is 2-fold higher than consumption volume of bananas, notwithstanding almost every second apple consumed by Ukrainians is produced in Poland.
As of today, bananas are averagely 30% higher in price at Ukraine's market than apples. In certain periods of year, difference in prices reaches 50%. In addition, Ukrainian apples are in popular demand not only in Ukraine, but also in Russia, where they are more and more actively exported to.
More detailed information of development prospects of Ukraine's apple market is available in the first fundamental study ”Apples of Ukraine: present situation and prospects of production, storage, post harvest handling, processing, and marketing , which was completed a little more than a month ago by analysts of Fruit-Inform Project.