The season of summer apples in Moldova starts with high prices

The season of summer varieties began in Moldova last week. The level of prices has not yet stabilized: the range of both wholesale and retail prices is still very large. The retail price fluctuates in the range of 20-30 MDL/kg ($1.05-1.57/kg), and red apples are usually more expensive than green ones. On the wholesale market, prices average 8-9 MDL/kg ($0.42-0.47/kg), but some batches of red apples of the “Glory to the Winners” variety of large caliber and without defects are offered at 10 MDL/kg ($0.52/kg).

Last summer, early apples became available on the domestic market of Moldova about a week later and at a much lower price – on average 6 MDL/kg ($0.33/kg). At that moment, wholesale early apples cost about 1MDL/kg cheaper than the previous year’s harvest apples. In 2022, summer varieties of apples are 1-2 MDL/kg more expensive than last year.

Specialists of agricultural producers’ organizations explain the relatively high starting price level for apples of summer varieties of the new crop by the coincidence of several factors. The first is a rather good demand for early apples from certain categories of Moldovan consumers. Chisinau boutique retailers claim that with comparable prices to stone fruits (apricots and plums), summer apples are sold in quite large volumes. At the same time, the supply of high-quality apples from the 2021 crop is still quite large, and their prices are 1.5-2 times lower.

Another important factor in supporting the starting prices for summer apples is the availability of their exports. Volumes are small and purchase prices are not available, but they are known to market participants and are being discussed. Exports of early apples are not typical. But this year it fits into the general idea: growers and traders are trying to make money on the earliest possible export of all types of fruits to the Russian market, regardless of the risks.