Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Ukraine: berry prices to go down year-on-year in case of favorable weather conditions
«In case of favorable weather conditions, berry prices will go down in Ukraine year-on-year due to the ban on imports introduced by Russia and abundant supply in the internal market», Ms. Tetiana Getman, Head of Fruit-Inform, said during the press-conference on the Ukrainian organic berry export potential yesterday.
«The berry sector is always under the high influence of climatic conditions, and a cold spell in the second half of spring can often result in losses of crops. However, if production is good, prices will certainly by lower year-on-year», Ms. Getman said.
According to her, berry plantations tend to increase their bearing year by year, and areas under berries have been steadily growing in Ukraine over the past five years. In addition, Ukrainian growers have lost their possibility to ship berries to Russia due to Crimea blockade, and the Russian Federation has previously been the main target market for them.
Ukrainian consumers will be able to count on less expensive sweet cherries, strawberries and raspberries in 2016. According to Ms. Getman, strawberry prices averaged UAH 17/kg in the peak of the season in 2015, and raspberry prices varied between UAH 20-35/kg. However, a decrease in prices will also depend on processors' demand. If it is high, prices will be supported.
The expert also said of stably high demand for Ukrainian organic berries outside of the country and Ukraine's good chance to become the leader in organic berry production in Europe.
«Climatic potential is rather high in this case. If European investors enter the Ukrainian berry sector, and it is what we all count on, Ukraine will be able to become the leader in production of certain berries and enter the group of at least top five European leaders», she said.
Ms. Yelena Deyneko, Director at Organic Business, also added that Ukrainian organic berry growers export almost all their produced volumes. According to her, Ukrainian berries have several advantages in comparison with ones of other origin with eating qualities and inexpensive labor costs as the main of them.
«There is an organic berry boom in Europe, and the demand is very high there. Developed countries have already reached their production limit, and they will be able to satisfy steadily growing demand only thanks to importing organic berries from such countries as Ukraine», Ms. Deyneko said.
Mr. Dmitriy Zubakha, Founder of Kiyevskiy Cooperative, an organic berry grower, added that profitability of the organic berry business reaches 200% annually thanks to sale proceeds in a foreign currency.
«Organic growers are protected against fluctuations in the Ukrainian hryvnia exchange rates», Mr. Zubakha said.
More detailed information about the Ukrainian organic and conventional berry sector developments will be presented at the 7th International Conference «Berries of Ukraine-2016: Frozen Produce & Fresh Market», which will be held on May 19-20, 2016, Cherkasy, Ukraine.
To learn more about the event, please contact International Relations Department of Fruit-Inform:
tel: +380 562 320795 (ext. - 341)
cell: +380 96 5836323 (Ievgen Kuzin)
e-mail: [email protected]