EastFruit expert Bakhtiyor Abduvokhidov visited the wholesale and retail market in the north of Tajikistan and shared an interesting video in which he shows the assortment, quality, unusual packaging and very low prices of fruits and vegetables. The information is valid for of May 3, 2023 as prices change dynamically!
You can watch the video below
First of all, attention is drawn to the huge abundance of early fruits, berries and vegetables on the market, as well as the rather low level of prices for them. Particularly shocking are the prices for cucumbers of the favorite variety “Orzu”, which are offered for 30 US cents per kg only!
The packaging of vegetables and fruits for European fruit and vegetable business specialists may also seem completely unusual. Indeed, such types of containers as “bucket” or “basin” look quite exotic. However, these plastic containers are standardized, fairly cheap and widely available, and are reusable and freely exchangeable. This is a kind of local version of pooling.
The large selection of fresh apricots on the market results in a wide range of prices. The cheapest apricots can be bought at 37 US cents per kg, and the most expensive ones at $1.1 US dollars per kg. By the way, local favorite “gura”, which is basically a green apricot, is really cheap now and costs as little as the cheapest apricots – only 37 cents per kg.
Sweet cherries grown in Tajikistan are sold, depending on the caliber, at prices ranging from $1.4 to $2.4 per kg. The size of cherries is still quite small – the most expensive and largest cherries, according to Bakhtiyor Abduvokhidov, have a size of 22-23 mm. In order to successfully export sweet cherries, their caliber needs to be at least 24-26 mm, and for exports to China, cherries from 28 to 32 mm in size are desirable.
Early garlic is sold in bunches of 10 and costs $1.50 per bunch. Radish, a rather unusual oblong shape, costs only 10 cents per kg.
Locally produced strawberries are sold in “buckets”, and for one such bucket they ask for $1.8 US dollars per kg, but this is for products from the northern regions, which are smaller than those from the southern regions. By the way, strawberries from the southern regions are packed in standard “basins”.
There are also imported strawberries on the market, which are called “giant” because of their relatively large size. They are imported from neighboring Uzbekistan and are packed in wooden boxes with cotton cheesecloth. Price of the large size Uzbek strawberries is $2.3 US dollars per kg. Producers say that these are Korean varieties of strawberries, which are popular among farmers in Uzbekistan.
Also, the local melon of the Khandalyak variety has already matured and is well sold on the market. According to Bakhtiyor, the melon is very fragrant and costs an average of $1.8 per piece when sold at retail.
