The unacceptable quality of Moldova table grapes variety in stores is one of the most unfortunate conclusions of the March audit of the produce departments of Chisinau supermarket chains, conducted by the EastFruit international project team. The objectivity of the assessment is undoubtful, as along with the project staff, many Moldovan consumers who tried to find table grapes “Moldova” of acceptable quality in the capital’s retail were convinced of this. However, experts from the growers organizations believe that although problems with the quality of “Moldova” sometimes arise at the beginning and at the very end of the marketing season, in the last few years they have been random, not systemic.
Read also: Table grapes of “Moldova” variety become niche grapes on the Moldovan market in the spring
According to Gheorghe Gaber, chairman of the Association of Table Grape Producers and Exporters of the Republic of Moldova, 2021 was marked by rather unusual weather conditions, or even anomalous compared to previous years. Most of the spring of 2021 was cool and very rainy, while autumn was predominantly dry, with occasional dense fogs and frosts. Berries of “Moldova” grapes slowly gained sugar content. Protective measures and harvesting were carried out in bad conditions in some areas. A large part of the “Moldova” harvest was not suitable for long-term storage. By the way, in accordance with the recommendations of experts, it was sold shortly after harvesting. At the same time, some specialized vineyards, especially in the southern region of the country and those growing grapes on plantations such as Pergola, harvested and stored “Moldova” of very good quality. Even in spring, these grapes in refrigerators looked no worse than last fall.
The specialist believes that the problematic quality of Moldova grapes in Chisinau supermarket chains in March this year is not so much a flaw in production and storage technologies, but a lack of commercial culture. Taking into account product leftovers in fruit storages and the understandable difficulties with their sale to the CIS countries, local chain retailers bought Moldova grapes at the lowest prices and did not closely monitor quality when buying. Meanwhile, there are quite a few producers in the country that can offer supermarkets high-quality grapes in consumer packaging, even in flow-packs.
As a rule, worse “Moldova” table grapes in March was placed not in refrigerators, next to expensive imported grapes, but on ordinary shelves – in boxes, next to apples and vegetables. Obviously, the “selling cycle” in such conditions was short, and the employees of supermarkets did not always have time (or did not try very well) to sort out unpresentable bunches with spoiled berries.
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.
