Moldovan farmers growing strawberries using protected ground technologies prefer early rather than late (everbearing) berry varieties, according to EastFruit data. This has been the case in previous seasons, and is likely to continue in the 2024 season.
This preference persists despite the fact that, as reported by EastFruit, over the last three to four years, imported strawberries have been appearing on the Moldovan market earlier and earlier in commercially significant quantities. Consequently, the “peak sales season” for local early variety greenhouse strawberries is shrinking, and prices are under increasing pressure.
Read also: More and more producers grow strawberries all year round
In this regard, specialists from the Association of Berry Producers of Moldova ( Pomușoarele Moldovei ) note that as far as five years ago, they were encouraging berry farmers to include everbearing strawberries more boldly in the assortment of products they produce. However, over this time period, late (autumn) strawberries have not transitioned out of their “niche format”. Only about five specialized farms in the country engage in commercial production of this type of berry, cultivating everbearing strawberries on areas ranging from a few hundred square meters to hectares. Altogether, they are capable of offering the market around 100-150 tons of produce.
The industry association points out that there is demand for late strawberries in Moldova, but it increases relatively slowly from year to year, which limits the potential for price growth. As a result, late strawberries are typically 10-20% cheaper than early ones. Apparently, the main reason for this is that in spring, the “market competition” for fruit and berry products in Moldova is much lower than in autumn.
However, it is interesting to note that last year, the everbearing strawberry season in Moldova lasted longer than usual, and the final price for the berries almost equaled the starting price for early greenhouse strawberries.
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.
