July 23 2007, 11:42

Sour cherry sales season is close to an end in Ukraine

Sour cherry producers finish picking last harvests; the supplies of sour cherry have already reduced to minimum on market. The season finished this year a little bit earlier than usually and almost 2 weeks earlier than a year ago. Hot weather deteriorated the quality of sour cherry in many regions, so that some companies failed to export the planned volumes of this fruit. At the same time, sour cherry harvest was higher than a year ago (sour cherry trees suffered from frosts in 2006). Taking into account the growing demand, the producers were able to achieve rather good sales for sour cherries. Sour cherry prices were 20-50% lower than in 2006; they reached the lower limit of $0.4/kg in the peak season on the wholesale markets. In the whole, sour cherry producers positively estimate this season in Ukraine despite of the problems caused by the drought.

The rate of the perspectives of sour and sweet cherry production in Ukraine will be discussed during the fourth international conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2007. Meeting New Leader". The participants will try to answer the question, if the exporting opportunities for sour and sweet cherry producers in Ukraine are likely to grow, and whether and how the demand can increase from the side of processing enterprises, the producers of frozen fruits in particular.