October 11 2010, 11:14 Fruit-Inform

Fruit and veg produce to have further increased in price by 12% within a week

Fruit and vegetable index of Fruit-Inform shows that cost of fruit and vegetable basket of a Ukrainian consumer increased by 12% within the last week.

The only reason of growth in cost of basket was hike in price for cucumbers and tomatoes that averagely grew in price by 150% (2.5-fold). According to Fruit-Inform, their consumption immediately fell approximately 2-fold. Growth of prices for these products was caused by early frosts that marked end of the season of cheap open-ground produce. Also, this hike in prices was concurrent with the last season.

All other categories of produce were steadily decreasing in price during the last week. Borsch vegetables, inclusive of potatoes, onions, carrots, beetroots and cabbage, decreased in price averagely by 1% within the last week due to fall in prices for cabbage and carrots. Other categories of these products either remained stable, or showed a tendency to decrease.

Decrease of cost of fruit basket was the greatest due to availability of cheaper citrus fruits from Turkey and other countries of Northern Hemisphere. Apples significantly contributed to decrease of cost of fruits too, as they fell in price in the last week due to keeping on harvesting in Ukraine and neighboring countries. In general, main set of fruits decreased in price by 8% within the last week.