According to EastFruit analysts, in 2023, exports of frozen raspberries from Serbia fell to the lowest level in the recent four years. Serbian frozen raspberries export revenues dropped down to US $300-310 million, which indicates the loss of a third of the export earnings on a year. If we compare it with 2021, the revenue of Serbian raspberry exporters crushed by 42% from a record US $523 million noted in that year.
Serbia’s main competitors: Poland and Ukraine, also sharply reduced revenue from frozen raspberry exports. If exports from Poland fell faster than from Serbia, exports from Ukraine declined much slower. Moreover, Ukraine was the only one of these three largest exporters to increase its raspberry export volumes.
“The decrease in revenue from frozen raspberry exports was due to the traditional price cyclicality of this market. It was in 2022 and 2023 that the “bottom” of the price cycle for frozen raspberries was noted, and already in 2024, in my opinion, we can expect an increase in both purchase prices for these berries and average export prices for frozen raspberries,” says Andriy Yarmak, an economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“Accordingly, those growers who did not get rid of raspberry plantations but used the period of low prices for berries to expand areas and improve product quality, can receive the maximum benefit from them in the next 2-3 seasons, unless, of course, weather or macroeconomic factors interfere factors,” the expert believes.
We recently reported on some recovery in demand in the European frozen raspberry market. Most market participants are inclined to believe that this marks a fundamental change in trends in this market.
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