Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Georgia needs to focus on diversifying fruit and vegetable export
Georgian agricultural sector has been rapidly developing, and the country has a great potential in fruit and vegetable production, said Ms. Tetiana Getman, Head of Fruit-Inform, at Georgia Agro Forum-2015.
Georgia has unique climatic conditions, which enable the country to successfully produce a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Moreover, both harvesting and sales periods in Georgia are significantly longer than in other Eastern European countries.
«Favorable climatic conditions are a serious competitive advantage of Georgia in growing main fruits and vegetables», said Ms. Getman. «Furthermore, Georgia has rather advantageous geographical location, which also backs fruit and vegetable sector development in the country».
State support also plays its part in the fruit and vegetable industry development in Georgia. According to Ms. Getman, the country has been actively laying out new orchards, developing transport infrastructure, increasing investments in logistics and pre-sale handling as well as modernizing processing facilities.
Georgian citrus fruits are in the highest demand among all Georgian fruit categories in the export market, and their share stands at about 65% in Georgia's total fruit exports. Stonefruits rank second with the share of 13%, and apples account for about 4% of total fruit exports.
As regards vegetables, tomatoes are the most popular vegetable export category with the share of about 55% in total exports. Carrots rank second and account for 21% of Georgia's vegetable exports, and the share of onions stands at 8%. However, Georgia's export geography is still limited to the CIS countries with Russia as the main buyer.
«As many countries' negative experience shows, Russia is the most unreliable trading partner in the world. However, it is Russian Federation that still consumes the largest part of fruit and vegetable exports from Georgia», said Ms. Getman. «At the same time, Georgian exporters face problems with diversifying their shipments. Despite active investments, the infrastructure and logistics development levels are moderate, and the majority of fruit and vegetable growers have never cooperated with exporters».
Ms. Getman added that current fruit and vegetable growing technologies applied in Georgia are significantly lower than in the EU and even other countries of the Eastern Europe. As a result, it is produce quality, storage technologies and logistics that Georgian farmers should focus on primarily to be able to diversify their exports and enter new sales markets.