Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Ukraine sharply increases exports of berries and apples to France
In 2018, France entered the top three main markets for Ukrainian fruits, berries and nuts. Supplies of Ukrainian fruit and berry products to this country grew by 5% over the year and reached $15.7 mln. At the same time exports to France grew most sharply in the categories of frozen berries and fresh apples.
According to EastFruit, in 2018 shipments of Ukrainian frozen strawberries to France increased by more than 50%. Exports of Ukrainian frozen raspberries also increased very significantly over the year - by 19%. Shipments of other Ukrainian frozen berries to France increased by 13%.
Analysts also note that until 2018, Ukraine had not supplied apples to France, but last year the exports of fresh apples to this country brought $338,000 of currency revenues to Ukraine. In total, Ukraine exported 450 tons of apples to France in 2018.
However, walnuts remained the main item of export to France. According to analysts, the trends were mixed - export volumes increased by 12.5% and reached 12.700 tons, but total revenue from nut exports decreased by 3% to $10.9 mln. The main reason for the decline in revenue was a fall in walnut prices in the European market, as well as toughened requirements to quality of supplied products, which Ukraine was still unable to meet.
Speaking about the prospects for 2019, experts believe that Ukraine would increase shipments of products to France again, considering that France is promising sales market for nuts, apples and the frozen berries.