September 20 2006, 08:58

Poltava processors will not produce apple juice in 2006 because of problematic raw material supply

There will be no commercial production of apple juice this year in Poltava oblast, according to information provided by the specialists of Poltava office, Agricultural Marketing Project to "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal.

Three canneries purchased raw materials for apple juice production past year; out of these three only Pyryatyn cannery has included apple juice production to its plans this year. The declared quantity of raw materials was about 300 tons. But, even this cannery had to give up its plans. The cannery management comments that the main reason is absence of the needed volumes of raw materials in the nearby rayons. Apple delivery from the neighboring oblasts is not feasible. For example, the processing plant planned to purchase apples for $0.04-0.05/kg; at the present moment the price for 1 kg of apples will be minimum $0.15. As a result, apple juice becomes unprofitable.

Oleg Smolka, the Agronomist of Poltava AMP office points out that there is a crisis in the production of raw materials for apple juice. Old commercial orchards do not practically yield or they are just neglected. Nobody establish new orchards for raw materials production. The only possibility to purchase apples is to drive round the private houseplots in the oblast villages. But, this way the processor can't have the needed volume of raw materials and can't achieve the uniform variety assortment.