At the end of last week, some supermarket chains in Chisinau reduced the prices for apples. The decrease is small – about 0.5-1 MDL/kg ($0.02-0.05/kg). Apples of yellow and green varieties fell in price more than apples of red varieties. Mass replacement of apples of “export” varieties with apples of old varieties – “Idared”, “Renet Simirenko” and others – has not yet been observed. Apples of marketable varieties in branded boxes of well-known agricultural producers in Moldova prevail in the largest supermarket chains. At the same time, visually it seems that the stores are selling off the leftovers of apples that arrived earlier.
Market participants agree that retailers will try to get large discounts on apples from agricultural suppliers in the short term. This is natural, given the fact that, according to the most modest expert estimates, no less than 100 000 tonnes of apples remain in the fruit storages of Moldova now. The prospects for their exports are still unclear, but forecasts are pessimistic. Therefore, wholesale sales of apples to local retailers at a price of at least 1-1.5 MDL/kg higher than the “winter” price for industrial apples will probably be considered by farmers as acceptable.
Meanwhile, apples of low quality and the least popular varieties from refrigerators of producers are very likely to be sold to local retailers at a low price soon.
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