According to EastFruit analysts, fresh raspberries and blackberries showed the largest increase in revenue from Poland’s exports in the first nine months of 2020. The exports of berries increased by 42% when compared to 2019 and reached $23.4 million.
However, the impressive growth in export revenues was mainly driven by the rise in export prices for raspberries in 2020, while exports themselves grew by only 14%. Poland previously exported significantly more fresh raspberries, but in recent years, due to the shortage in labour, increased competition, and falling prices in the global raspberry market, it has reduced export volumes.
Thus, in the first 9 months of 2020, the export of fresh raspberries and blackberries (mainly raspberries) from Poland in physical terms amounted to 7,700 tons. In 2016, Poland’s raspberry and blackberry exports were almost 10,000 tons more and exceeded 17,000 tons. It seems that the first signs of recovery in Polish exports of fresh berries are now being observed.
Exports of frozen raspberries and blackberries from Poland continued to decline in volume from January to September 2020. yet, thanks to the rise in prices for raspberries, the total revenue from exports of frozen raspberries increased by 22%.
Read also: Berry business of 2020: summary and forecasts for 2021
It should be noted that in recent years Poland has been actively catching up with Serbia in regards to exports of fresh raspberries. Because Serbia also suffered from an increase in the supply of frozen raspberries from Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina, producers then began to actively develop the fresh berry market. Moreover, Serbia is in close proximity to the largest fresh raspberry-consuming countries of the EU and also supplies fresh raspberries to Russia.
Unlike Serbia and Poland, Ukraine has not taken up the development of fresh raspberry exports, despite the fact that the distances and modern technologies of growing and processing are quite possible. In addition, the profitability of exporting fresh raspberries is significantly higher than the profitability of exporting frozen ones, but the level of risks is also higher.
Spain remains the world leader in the exports of fresh raspberries. Recently, Mexico has been actively catching up with the increase in the supply of fresh raspberries to the United States. The United States itself exports raspberries, but in a slightly different season supplying fresh berries mainly to Canada as well as by air to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Hong Kong, Kuwait and even to the UK. Therefore, the United States is one of the three world leaders in terms of revenue from the exports of fresh raspberries even with very high labour costs in this country!
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