The raspberry season has almost finished its transition from summer to everbearing varieties in EastFruit countries. However, raspberry prices are still frustrating for farmers almost everywhere.
The price collapse in the raspberry market had been already obvious before the start of the current season, and in late June the tragedy reached its culmination, including a fall in prices to lower than a half of a dollar per kg, calls to boycott processors and demands to ban imports.
Many market players hoped that the situation would improve after the end of summer varieties, and prices would grow. However, there has been no price growth yet. In Poland, prices of raspberries for freezing still vary between $0,93-1,03/kg, just a third of last year’s level! In exceptional cases, Polish farmers can count on $1,23/kg for their extra-quality raspberries, which is still much lower than a year before.
As regards Ukraine, minimum prices still are lower than a half of a dollar here ($0,46/kg). However, the price range is rather wide, with its maximum reaching $0,81/kg and even $0,94/kg. In this case, everything depends on a wide variety of factors, including shipment volume, its uniformity, quality of berries, their variety etc. Prices can also depend on processors’ plans on their final products, which quality differentiation is described in a separate material.
Meanwhile, the season in other project regions has already finished its transition to everbearing varieties, and the price situation is somewhat better there. In Georgia, current prices of raspberries average $3,40/kg, the highest level over the past few years. Similar situation is observed in Uzbekistan, where prices remain at their record high of $2,59/kg.
Read also: Raspberries of Ukraine: collapse in prices and calls for a boycott of raspberry freezing companies
In Tajikistan, the season of everbearing raspberries started this week with prices averaging $2,50/kg, again the highest level in the past years. Raspberries are expected to be available on the Tajikistani market until late October. The supply is currently limited, and prices may go down over time. This can create rather interesting opportunities for local processors, and many consumers of frozen raspberries in Central Asia still focus on imports.
In fairness, it is worth noting that the raspberry market situation in Poland or Ukraine can be compared to Caucasus or Central Asia just partially, as such comparison must consider differences in quality of berries and approaches to their pre-sale preparation processes. More details about such local peculiarities are available in a separate material about the raspberry business in Uzbekistan.
The use of the site materials is free if there is a direct and open for search engines hyperlink to a specific publication of the East-Fruit.com website.
