Potatoes Rule, Cucumbers Crash, and Berries Bloom: Key Produce Market Trends This Week

Key Highlights of the Week:

• Top-selling product – potatoes – is getting cheaper.
• Supplies of onions, carrots, and beets have decreased.
• Cucumber offerings are on the rise.
• Uzbekistan’s farmers are ramping up strawberry sales.
• Table beets saw heightened demand.
• In Ukraine, last season’s cabbage and tomatoes became more expensive.
• In Uzbekistan, cucumber prices collapsed.
• Egyptian exporters raised lemon prices by 1.5×.

These and other trends in the region’s fruit and vegetable markets are covered in this weekly EastFruit Trade Platform overview.

EastFruit Trade Platform Activity by Country

Last week on the EastFruit Trade Platform, the number of listings dropped by 10% seasonally, even as the geography of active participants expanded to 13 countries. Supply from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Iran decreased, while participants from Poland and North Macedonia became more active. Listings from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and Romania reappeared. The top five countries by number of listings remained unchanged from the previous week: Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, and Poland.

Vegetable Market Trends

Over the past week, the vegetable segment saw a surge in potato supply, making potato the top-selling product on the platform. Offers to sell potatoes came from participants in 8 countries, with Ukraine and Egypt being the most active. Sales of other “borscht basket” vegetables declined. The number of cucumber sellers continues to grow – new listings appeared from Uzbekistan and Romania. Meanwhile, radishes were offered less frequently than a week earlier. Among products not shown on the chart, there were fairly active sales of Chinese cabbage and garlic.

Fruit Market Trends

The supply of apples shrank, but apple sales still dominated the fruit segment. Thanks to more listings from Uzbekistan, strawberries jumped into the top sales positions last week (Greek suppliers were also actively trading strawberries). However, spring frosts in Ukraine could destroy the early fruit harvest, and growers in Poland and Moldova were also hit by frost.

Sales Highlights

The highest demand on the platform last week was for beetroots (red beets). Participants also actively purchased other borscht-basket vegetables, radishes, and cucumbers.

It is interesting to recall what was being traded on the platform at the same time last year. The top seller then was onion – which, incidentally, was cheaper than it is today. Half of the white cabbage offered was from the new harvest, and half of the potatoes were seed potatoes for planting. The supply of Chinese cabbage and fresh herbs was increasing. In the fruit segment, apples dominated sales.

Price Trends by Country

Ukraine

In Ukraine, prices for last season’s white cabbage began to rise (Ukraine: Prices for Last Season’s Cabbage on the Rise • EastFruit). Carrots were also selling at higher prices than the previous week. At the same time, potato producers were once again forced to cut prices (Potato Prices in Ukraine Continue to Decline • EastFruit). The first batches of locally grown greenhouse tomatoes hit the market (priced higher than imports), and as a result tomato prices increased (First Batches of Locally Grown Greenhouse Tomatoes Hit the Market in Ukraine • EastFruit). Eggplant and zucchini became cheaper, while broccoli and Chinese cabbage became more expensive. High demand for radishes allowed sellers to raise radish prices. In the greens segment, prices rose for green onions, but fell for lettuce and dill.

In the fruit segment, prices were mostly declining. Grapes and kiwifruit became cheaper. Prices fell for mandarins and lemons. Oranges, on the contrary, grew more expensive. Prices for other fruit positions remained at the level of the previous period.

Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, following the trend in Ukraine, potato prices started to decline as well. The first offers of new-crop potatoes and onions have appeared, by the way, and early onions are already available in the capital’s supermarkets. At the same time, prices for last season’s onion began climbing upward. Tomatoes sold cheaper than a week earlier. The price of cucumber collapsed sharply.

Among fruits, the price range for pears narrowed, while for mandarins it widened. Oranges became cheaper. The first offers of strawberries (garden strawberries) have appeared, but volumes are still low, so the price spread is large.

Egypt

In Egypt, potatoes and oranges became more expensive. Turkey’s short-lived ban on lemon exports allowed Egyptian exporters to raise lemon prices nearly 1.5-fold (Turkey’s short-lived ban on lemon exports helped Egypt boost revenues • EastFruit). And although the ban lasted only one day (Turkey’s short-lived ban on lemon exports helped Egypt boost revenues • EastFruit), lemon prices have not come down.

Agri-Tech and Supplies Highlights

Activity in the EastFruit FruitTechnology group (the technology and equipment marketplace) remained on par with the previous week. The top-selling items continue to be fruit and berry seedlings. The supply of containers and packaging for produce decreased, but vegetable seedlings were offered more often than a week earlier. Available farm materials included agrifiber, various plastic films, drip tapes, and plant ties. Meanwhile, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a method for early detection of tomato disease ( New method for early detection of fungal wilt in tomatoes-Xinhua ) long before symptoms become visible.

Further Reading: An analysis of fruit and vegetable supply dynamics on the trading platforms for week 14 of 2025 can be found here. Additionally, read about how to effectively promote your produce in Telegram groups (EastFruit blog post) here.