Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Ukrainian organic berry exporters to count on frozen produce shipments to the EU
Ukrainian producers of organic berries will be able to successfully enter the EU market only with frozen produce, Mr. Oleg Shubrat and Mr. Dmitriy Zubakha, founders of Kiyevskiy Cooperative, said during the press-conference on the Ukrainian organic berry export potential yesterday.
As Fruit-Inform has already reported, it is organic berries that are in demand in Europe. However, there are a lot of difficulties with exporting such fresh berries. «Berries are a very delicate product and can hardly be transported. In contrast to conventional berries, which shelf life lasts for weeks, organic ones must appear on supermarkets' shelves a day after harvesting. Their shelf life is limited, and quality significantly worsens after transportation».
According to Ms. Tetiana Getman, Head of Fruit-Inform, sale of frozen berries is a common practice for European producers. «For example, Serbia and Poland, which are the European leaders in raspberry production, sell almost all their harvested volumes as frozen».
We would remind you that Ukraine has been rapidly increasing its exports of frozen berries, which reached record high 24,000 tons in the first half of the current season, an increase of 56% year-on-year.
More detailed information about the Ukrainian organic and conventional fresh and frozen 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]