In the European peach, nectarine and plum category, the market is increasingly facing not so much a shortage of product as a shortage of reliable and predictable supply. For retail chains, importers and professional buyers, the priorities today are consistency of quality, traceability, shelf-ready formats, manageable shelf life and a supplier’s ability to deliver through the season without disruption, EastFruit writes.
Traditional production regions are increasingly exposed to frost, excessive rainfall, drought, hail and other weather-related risks that affect not only crop volumes, but also fruit quality, uniformity and market positioning. As a result, the market is beginning to look for new suppliers and new sourcing geographies, especially where natural conditions allow for greater production stability and where the production model itself offers better control over the final outcome.
At the same time, consumer demand within the peach and nectarine category is also changing. Part of that demand is gradually shifting toward fruit perceived as more convenient for everyday consumption, better suited to the healthy snacking format and more adaptable to the premium segment. That is why flat peaches and flat nectarines no longer look like niche exotics. They are increasingly becoming part of a modern fruit format that appeals not only to consumers, but also to retailers.
According to the European Commission’s EU Agricultural Outlook 2023–2035, EU peach and nectarine production is expected to decline in the long term due to shrinking acreage and more frequent extreme weather events. The report also highlights another important shift: part of demand in the fruit category is moving toward products that are easier and more convenient to consume. In other words, two trends are gaining strength at the same time, both of which are becoming especially relevant for stone fruit suppliers: the need for greater supply reliability and growing interest in more convenient fruit formats.
“Our company, BellyBella Fruit Company, operates precisely at the intersection of these two trends – the need for more reliable suppliers and growing demand for more convenient fruit formats. We are a producer and exporter of flat peaches, flat nectarines and plums from Armenia.
We focus on quality control throughout the entire chain, modern post-harvest infrastructure, varietal diversity, an extended seasonal presence and readiness to work according to the requirements of retail chains and private labels,” says David Saakyan, owner of BellyBella Fruit Company.
Flat stone fruit is moving out of the niche
According to David Saakyan, owner of BellyBella Fruit Company, the company deliberately focused on flat peach and flat nectarine varieties from the very beginning. This decision was not driven by marketing fashion, but by an analysis of global demand, consumption structure and buyer behaviour.
“Before deciding which crop to plant, we studied global trends, demand patterns and consumption volumes. Overall consumption of stone fruit is not growing, but there is a clear shift toward flat peach and flat nectarine subtypes because of their convenience and the taste preferences of buyers,” the producer notes.
Today’s consumer increasingly evaluates fruit not only by its appearance, country of origin or price. It also matters how easy it is to eat, how well it fits into a quick snack format and how naturally it can be perceived as an everyday product rather than only a seasonal one. This is exactly where flat peaches and flat nectarines have a competitive advantage. They are more compact, neater, easier to eat and better aligned with the concept of the “healthy snack,” which retail is increasingly integrating into the fruit shelf.
“Flat peaches and flat nectarines are a healthy snack. They are easier to eat: they are smaller, neater, the pit is more compact, and the fruit does not leak. We see flat peaches gradually taking market share from round peaches, and the same is beginning to happen with flat nectarines,” says David Saakyan.
In his view, within the next two to three years BellyBella Fruit Company could become one of the world’s largest producers of flat peaches and flat nectarines. But more important than scale or ambition is the precision of the chosen direction. The company is developing the part of the category where there is room for growth, premiumisation and stronger demand.
This logic is also reflected in its varietal strategy. BellyBella built its assortment from the outset to cover the season as broadly as possible. Harvest runs approximately from June 10 to October 10, and thanks to its variety mix, the company can effectively offer fruit to the market until the end of October. For retail chains, this is one of the strongest advantages. A supplier becomes attractive not only because of quality, but because of its ability to support the customer throughout the season without gaps or sharp declines in supply.
“We cover the entire season for the retail chain. We do not operate in some narrow niche segment – our varieties allow us to move through the season consistently, without interruptions,” Saakyan emphasizes.
Scale as part of trust
In the peach and nectarine market, not all suppliers are able to deliver volume, uniform quality and process control at the same time. In many countries, the category still relies on large numbers of small producers and cooperative models. This is not necessarily a problem in itself, but it almost always means a higher risk of variable-quality raw material and more difficult standardisation for retail chains.
BellyBella Fruit Company controls the entire key cycle – from the orchard and agronomic programme to cooling, sorting, packing and shipment. To date, 600 hectares of orchards have already been planted. According to David Saakyan, the company expects to produce around 6,000 tonnes in 2026, and 27,000–28,000 tonnes by 2029–2030. Combined with plans to expand by another 250 hectares in 2028–2029, the company is building a large-scale production platform in the flat peach and flat nectarine category.
“Our advantage is that we are a vertically integrated producer and independently control every process, from orchard establishment and cultivation to sorting and supply. We do not face the problem of inconsistent raw material coming from hundreds of small suppliers, as is often the case in the market,” says Saakyan.
Armenia as a production advantage
BellyBella Fruit Company’s production is located in Armenia, around 35 km from Yerevan. The orchards are situated at altitudes of 1,000–1,100 metres in an environmentally clean area with no harmful industrial activity nearby.
The company sees its key advantage in the combination of a high number of sunny days, minimal rainfall during the growing season and a significant difference between daytime and night-time temperatures. That difference is around 20°C. For peaches, nectarines and plums, this directly affects colour, flavour, sugar content and overall market quality.
According to Saakyan, the production environment itself is also important:“We have mountain water, a clean environment and conditions that allow us to grow a tasty, high-quality product.”
Importantly, the dry climate and lower rainfall reduce pressure from fungal diseases and therefore decrease the need for certain treatments. The company also highlights the use of organic fertilisers, while GlobalG.A.P. certification reinforces this positioning in the language of internationally recognised standards. BellyBella is also working toward GRASP, FCA and IFS Food certification.
As Saakyan notes, the fruit contains no pesticide residues. Combined with the region’s natural conditions, lower need for certain treatments and GlobalG.A.P. certification, this strengthens BellyBella Fruit Company’s reputation as a supplier focused on quality, safety and long-term cooperation with the professional market.
Climate resilience is becoming part of commercial reliability
In Europe today, sustainability in the agri-food sector is increasingly measured by the ability to genuinely reduce losses, use water more efficiently, maintain quality throughout the chain and reduce unnecessary pressure on logistics and the climate.
One of the most interesting shifts in the stone fruit segment is that climate resilience is gradually ceasing to be only an agronomic issue. For the market, it is becoming part of supplier evaluation. The greater the weather instability in traditional production regions, the more closely buyers look at a producer’s ability to manage the risks of frost, hail, drought and quality losses.
BellyBella Fruit Company built its production model specifically with these factors in mind. The orchards are covered with modern anti-hail netting, an automated drip irrigation and fertigation system is in place, and the company has artesian wells and water reservoirs with a total capacity of 600,000 cubic metres.
“The main risks in stone fruit production are frost, hail and drought. We initially studied the climatic history of the region over the past 15 years and designed production with these factors already taken into account,” says Saakyan.
According to him, the location of the orchards on slopes also provides additional protection. “Cold air does not remain trapped in the orchard – it moves downward. This is one of the factors that reduces the risk of damage.”
Quality is shaped after harvest no less than in the orchard
In stone fruit, post-harvest infrastructure often matters just as much as production itself. Any mistake in cooling, sorting or logistics quickly translates into shorter shelf life, higher write-offs and losses for retailers. That is why the real quality of a supplier is increasingly measured not only by orchard performance, but by the technological discipline of its post-harvest operations.
BellyBella Fruit Company has invested in this area consistently. It has its own on-site packing and sorting complex, rapid cooling chambers, cold storage with controlled atmosphere, and a French MAF RODA sorting line equipped with the GLOBALSCAN 7 system, with a capacity of 25 tonnes per hour. One of its advantages is the ability to sort fruit by size, weight, colour and external quality.
“We have one of the most technologically advanced sorting lines in the world. It allows us to prevent poor-quality fruit from entering shipments and provides full traceability right down to the last box,” says Saakyan.
According to him, every box is labelled in such a way that the product in a specific package can be traced all the way back to the row in the orchard. This is a tool for control, transparency and more confident quality management.
Internal logistics also matter.“The distance from the cold store to the orchard is about one kilometre. That means the harvested fruit reaches cooling within no more than half an hour. For stone fruit, this is critical,” he notes.
From there, a strictly controlled cold chain begins. The fruit is rapidly cooled, sorted, packed and shipped under constant temperature monitoring and cargo tracking.
“We monitor temperature not only in the cold store and the packing complex, but all the way to the supermarket distribution centre. Both we and the client can see in real time where the product is and the temperature at which it is being transported,” Saakyan emphasizes.
Packaging as part of the commercial offering
The fresh fruit market is increasingly buying a solution that works well for the shelf, logistics and the end consumer. BellyBella Fruit Company offers standard supply formats for flat peaches and flat nectarines, including cardboard boxes packed both in alveoli trays and loose, as well as 500 g punnets. The company also offers different positioning options: supply under a retailer’s private label, under the BellyBella brand, or in a neutral black box.
“We are ready to provide premium packaging for more demanding clients, half-kilogram retail packs, and private label solutions for retail chains. For us, it is important to be responsive to the buyer’s request,” says David Saakyan.
Not just a new exporter, but a new type of supplier
The strength of BellyBella Fruit Company lies in the combination of several factors that the market increasingly evaluates as a whole: a growing flat stone fruit segment, a more convenient consumer format, vertical integration, broad seasonal coverage, controlled quality, advanced post-harvest infrastructure, traceability, cold-chain discipline, packaging flexibility and serious work on climate-related risks.
Against the backdrop of a market where traditional suppliers are increasingly struggling with predictability, this approach appears especially timely. BellyBella Fruit Company is still building its international reputation, but even now it can be seen as one of the most interesting new cases in the flat stone fruit segment, because its production logic and market positioning are closely aligned with what is becoming increasingly important for today’s buyer.
As David Saakyan puts it, BellyBella’s strategic goal is “maximum diversification of supplies and access to the widest possible range of markets, because the company’s quality and technologies make this possible.”
For more information about BellyBella Fruit Company, its products and cooperation opportunities, please contact: [email protected]
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