January 25 2007, 17:02

SANDORA increased the volumes of carrot processing into juice threefold

According to information provided by Ebbe Jonson, the Director of Southern Ukraine Vegetable Supply Chain Development Project implemented by IFC, SANDORA company considerably increased the volumes of carrot processing into juice past year. This company is the largest juice producer in Ukraine. Mr. Jonson evaluated the volumes of carrot as raw material consumed by SANDORA to grow 200% (threefold) during the previous year. Mr. E. Jonson presented this information during the scientific-practical conference "Carrot: How to make profit?" which was organized by "Rijk Zwaan" company in Kyiv on January 25th 2007.

To the opinion of Andriy Yarmak, the Deputy Director of the Agricultural Marketing Project, such a tremendous growth of carrot consumption during one year may be predetermined by several factors. First of all, poor fruit harvest 2006 in Ukraine was accompanied by the simultaneous growth of the world prices for apple and orange concentrates. This circumstance resulted in the increasing retail prices for fruit juices, and consequently affected the juice consumption rates. Second, carrot production in Ukraine in 2006 was a top record, so the prices for this product dramatically declined. Third, the growth of vegetable juice consumption is the European trend which is typical for Ukraine too. The production of vegetable juices has been increasing by the outstripping rates comparing to the fruit juice production in our country.

However, despite of the carrot oversupply on market and low prices for this product, Mr. Jonson says that SANDORA still suffers from the deficit for the raw material - carrot of the required quality. In this regard the Project is testing now various carrot varieties and production technologies which could provide the juice raw material of the required quality in the conditions of the southern regions of Ukraine.