Tomato prices jump in the Georgian wholesale prices over the week. According to EastFruit’s price monitoring, tomatoes were sold for GEL2.20/kg ($0.85/kg) on July 21, 2023. A week earlier average price was recorded at GEL1.20/kg ($0.47/kg). Similar price movement was observed in 2022, but this time prices jumped even higher.
In the same week last year, the average wholesale price for tomatoes amounted to GEL2.00/kg ($0.71/kg). So, in year-on-year terms, the price in the Georgian Laris has gone up by 10%, while it increased by almost 20% in US Dollars, which is due to the strengthening of the Georgian currency.
The tomato price jump at the end of July is not a new thing in Georgia. This is a transitionary period when the supply from local high tunnels is switched by the open-field tomatoes. If there are low supplies left from the high tunnels and open-field produce has not come in yet, tomato prices jump up.
Interestingly, the price jumps were usually observed at the very end of July. Last two years we are seeing the price increase a week earlier. This comes from strong demand and weak supply from the local high tunnels that are struggling with high costs of production. Strong demand is of course driven by the influx of russian citizens in Georgia and economic recovery from the Covid pandemic.
Read also: Georgian growers using high tunnels switch from tomatoes and cucumbers to blueberries
Now the prices will depend on the open-field tomato volumes from the major producing region Shida Kartli. The region usually produces 30-50% of Georgia’s annual tomato production. According to official statistics, in 2022 the region produced 14.4 thousand tons of tomatoes, which is the second-lowest amount in seven years. With the reduced supply, prices for the region’s tomatoes were one of the highest in EastFruit’s history.
The country’s total production in 2022 constituted 44.5 thousand tons, which is the lowest volume produced in seven years. The reason behind this was the weather, increased costs, and farmers switching to other cultures which had high prices at that time in hopes of better profits.
Low overall supply in 2022 resulted in record-high farmers’ prices. According to Geostat, a Georgian farmer got GEL1.34/kg for their tomatoes ($0.45/kg) which is a record-high annual average price. High prices in 2022 are very likely to have attracted farmers back to open-field tomatoes this year. Thus, things may change a bit compared to the last year.
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