January 25 2007, 17:04

FOZZY, SILPO and FORA will fully give up selling unwashed carrot by 2008

According to information provided by Maxim Didenko, the Manager of Vegetable Department of "Fozzy Group" Ltd, the company is targeted to fully stop selling unwashed carrot in the company chains FOZZY, SILPO and FORA by 2008. This information was presented during the scientific-practical conference "Carrot: How to make profit?" which was organized by "Rijk Zwaan" company in Kyiv on January 25th 2007.

Mr. Didenko said that the ratio of washed and unwashed carrot is relatively uniform in the company chains; however, the washed carrot is rapidly forcing the unwashed product out of the supermarket shelves. Washed carrot is sold better in large cities and in the central rayons of the towns; unwashed carrot finds a better demand in the suburbs. To the expert's opinion, the price is not a key factor, because the price difference for the washed and unwashed carrot is insignificant. The consumer culture and habits are much more important factors. At the same time, the washed carrot cost only 8-10% more expensive than the unwashed product in the stores of the chain.

It is interesting to mention that, to the opinion of Mr. Didenko, Ukraine will again import carrot from Poland in spring 2007 because the produce is rapidly getting spoiled in the storages without the forced cooling. At the same time, according to evaluations done by the analysts of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal, the carrot stocks reached the record for the recent years. That's why there is no hope for the price growth in the coming months. Moreover, according to information provided by the periodical's experts, the prices for carrot are 2-3 times as high in Poland comparing to Ukraine; this circumstance makes the carrot supplies to Polish market a rather profitable business.