Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Blueberry stocks may sharply fall in Ukraine
Ukraine's blueberry exporters fear sharp decrease of wild blueberry supply in the internal market in the new season. According to them, locals' interest to blueberry picking may fall due to high taxes stipulated by a new version of the tax code.
A number of berry pickers has been falling in the last couple years even under preceding tax legislation. Locals were losing interest to berry picking due to purchasing centers giving too low prices for blueberries.
Exporters, in their turn, explained their position by decrease of demand for wild berries in Europe which is the most important importer of Ukraine's frozen blueberries. Therefore it was more profitable for Ukrainian berry pickers to sell their berries in the fresh market where demand was only growing in the recent years.
Last year's minimum purchasing prices for fresh blueberries were rarely lower than UAH 10-11/kg (EUR 0.89-0.97/kg) in the beginning of the season.
More detailed information about market prospects of fresh and frozen blueberries and other major berries will be included in speeches of leading experts of this business during the Second International Conference “Berries of Ukraine-2011: Freezing and Fresh Market”. This event is to take place in Lviv, Ukraine, May 19-20, 2011. Application form is available through this link.