June 7 2006, 10:38

Lettuce sales make not more than 3% of overall fruit and vegetable sales in Crimean supermarkets

According to information provided to "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal in Crimean supermarkets SILPO and FURSHET, the volumes of sold lettuces make 1% to 3% of the overall sales done in fruit and vegetable section. The types of lettuces fluctuate within 5 to 8 varieties. In average 20-30 bunches of ordinary leafy lettuce daily and not more than 10 bunches of "exotic" lettuces (including Iceberg variety) weekly are sold in FURSHET supermarkets. The volumes of lettuce sales are 50 to 100 bunches a day on retail markets.

Around ten farms produce lettuce professionally in Crimea, according to the information provided by Crimean office of the Agricultural Marketing Project (AMP). They are the suppliers of Iceberg lettuce to McDonald's enterprises in Simferopol, Kyiv, and Moscow. In most cases leafy lettuces are grown by private producers and supplied in small shipments to small wholesale and retail trade on Crimean city markets, supermarket chains, and public catering enterprises.

In fact, Dr. Robert Lee, Director of AMP, stated the size of the world salad market is about $10.5 billion. China produces more than half of the gross volume and the USA and China combined provide for about 70% of the world's salad (leafy vegetable) production. Ukraine's lettuce market has only started to develop and in Dr. Lee's opinion, it will grow dynamically in the near future. "Even if Ukrainians eat half the salads of people in the US, this market will reach a volume of 300 thousand tons, compared to the 6,000 tons of salads produced now. There is tremendous room for expansion", Dr. Lee stated during the international workshop "Salads of Ukraine 2006".