According to EastFruit analysts, Ukraine has already begun the process of diversifying frozen raspberries exports away from Poland, as this country is considered one of the least reliable trading partners in the region. This allows Ukrainian exporters of frozen berries not only to significantly reduce business risks, but also to increase income from product sales.
In particular, in the first three quarters of 2023, Ukraine was able to reduce the share of Poland in the frozen raspberry exports by as much as 14 percentage points from 62% to 48%. At the same time, against the backdrop of an increase in the total volume of raspberry exports from Ukraine by 29% or 8.1 thousand tons, the volume of raspberry exports to Poland has declined.
Read also: Ukraine is confidently moving towards world leadership in raspberry exports
The largest increase in exports of Ukrainian frozen raspberries was noted to Germany, which, by the way, is the main traditional market for polish raspberries. Consequently, Ukraine is now pushing Poland away from its main import channel. Direct exports of frozen raspberries from Ukraine to Germany in the first 9 months of 2023 increased 2.2 times or 3 thousand tons and reached 5.5 thousand tons. These are record volumes of exports to this country from Ukraine during this period of year. Similar growth rates in the exports of frozen raspberries from Ukraine were recorded to Belgium – another major importer of frozen produce.
In relative terms, the largest increase in exports was noted to the UK, which increased purchases of Ukrainian frozen raspberries 14-fold in the first three quarters of 2023! Another very important trend is the continued growth in exports of frozen raspberries from Ukraine to the US market, where prices are significantly higher than in Europe.
“It is very important for Ukraine to diversify exports of frozen raspberries to increase the average export price. This additional income is extremely important to support those who grow raspberries. Moreover, I expect the demand for frozen raspberries in the world to recover as early as next season, and now it is the best time to expand areas of raspberries, while in many countries it is being reduced. However, to successfully diversify exports, investments into quality improvement are needed– specifically in the optical sorting, packaging and logistics,” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Let us remind you that Ukraine is now the world champion in terms of the rate of berry exports growth. Therefore, diversification of raspberry exports is an important step towards global leadership in raspberry exports.
In 2023, Poland reduced export volumes of frozen raspberries, and Ukraine, in the first 9 months, increased them by 29%. In 2024, according to EastFruit estimates, raspberry production volumes in Poland and Serbia will decrease, which will allow Ukraine to get closer to these leaders in global raspberry exports and, over time, perhaps even get ahead of them.
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