Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Poland reduces export of strawberry three years in row
The Main Statistics Office of Poland (GUS) published official data on the export of strawberry from the country in 2018, the Ukrainian Horticultural Association (UHA) reports with a link to FreshMarket. According to these reports, Poland reduces the supply of this berry to foreign markets for at least three years in a row.
In particular, in 2018 Poland exported 5,900 tons of strawberry, which is by 35% less than year before. In 2017 this country lost a significant part of the total harvest of strawberries due to weather disasters in the middle of spring. As a result, Polish farmers managed to ship only 9,000 tons of strawberries to foreign markets, which is by 44% less than in 2016.
According to market players, in 2018 the main reason for the decrease in exports was the decline in demand from Belarus, which had previously been the main export market. Thus, last season Polish exporters sold only 900 tons of strawberries to Belarus, while in 2017 these figures reached 2,900 tons.
As a result, the Netherlands became the leader in volumes of import of the Polish strawberries in 2018. This country increased the import of strawberries from 900 tons to 1,400 tons. According to experts, the growth in exports to the Netherlands market did not allow Polish companies to fully compensate for the decline in shipments to all other areas, in particular to Germany and Lithuania.