The heads of large horticultural enterprises in Moldova believe that local apples may be competitive on the Romanian market, even though the current level of their prices is almost twice as high as for Polish apples (according to EastFruit monitoring, $0.31/kg against $0.18/kg).
According to some growers and traders, the main motive for such a seemingly paradoxical statement is the routes from many Moldovan fruit stores to some distribution centers of Romanian wholesale buyers being several times shorter than those from Poland to Romania. Thus, if Moldovan exporters agree with road carriers on tariffs at least 0.12-0.15 EUR/kg lower than the tariffs for the transportation of Polish apples, Moldovan apples may be sold in Romanian supermarkets in the same price segment as Polish ones.
However, according to the participants of the fruit market in Moldova, this assumption is plausible only in relation to Gala apples – to a greater extent, and Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and some other varieties – to a much lesser extent.
Harvesting of Gala apples in the most technologically advanced farms in Moldova has been completed, the apples are sorted, and the highest-quality apples are placed in cold storages. Whereas apples of late varieties, especially those with little liquidity in the European and Middle Eastern markets, most likely will not be stored. An important reason is the recent significant increase in electricity prices, perhaps not the last one in the current marketing year. Given this (and a long list of other factors), it is likely that many fruit storages, even the most modern, will remain half empty by the time the 2022 apple harvest is completed.
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1 comment
Moldovan fruit sold in Romania needs to be advertised as being grown in the Repubic of Moldova, same as they do with the black grapes one can see everywhere, and that would be enough of an advantage to get them a market. Very many Romanians buy exclusively Romanian if they have a chance, and that covers Moldova too, border or no border.