he fruit and vegetable markets across the EastFruit Trade Platform during the week of May 26–31, 2025, showed a significant decline in prices of seasonal produce. This report provides a comprehensive overview of market trends and developments, comparing them to the previous week’s trends.
Market Activity Overview
The week of May 26–31, 2025, saw a notable increase in the number of listings on the EastFruit Trade Platform, accompanied by an expanded geographic representation of active participants. Sellers from Ukraine, Egypt, Iran, and Romania increased their activity, while offerings from Poland and Turkey declined. New listings emerged from Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Moldova, with a total of 13 countries participating.
The top five countries by offer volume were Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, and Romania, compared to the previous week’s top five of Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, and Poland, where activity from Egypt, Iran, Poland, and North Macedonia had decreased, and Uzbekistan and Turkey had shown growth.
Vegetable Market Highlights
White cabbage solidified its position as the top-selling vegetable, with a growing number of sellers, primarily offering the current year’s harvest. Limited carryover stock from the previous year was noted, including offers from the Netherlands. Early potato listings surged, reflecting increased supply, though Russia began importing potatoes from Mongolia due to domestic shortages and high prices.
Tomato sales grew, and zucchini offerings doubled, securing its place among the most traded vegetables. In contrast, Chinese cabbage dropped out of the top-selling list, while cucumber offers increased slightly. Uzbekistan boosted sales of sweet corn, and Ukraine saw rising demand for green peas.
Compared to the previous week (May 19–25), white cabbage maintained its dominance, but carrot listings had increased while onions declined, and tomatoes had just re-entered the top sales, indicating a continued upward trend for tomatoes and zucchini.
Fruit and Berry Market Highlights
Cherries led the fruit and berry segment, driven by strong sales from Uzbekistan, with emerging offers from Ukraine, Moldova, and Iran. The start of plum sales in Uzbekistan propelled the fruit into the weekly top-sellers list. Early apple offerings, particularly from Uzbekistan, marked a return to prominence, unlike the previous week when apples had nearly disappeared from rankings due to depleted stocks.
Apricot sales continued to grow, and strawberry offerings remained notable, though their supply was lower than the prior week. Peach offers from Turkey and nectarine listings from Uzbekistan appeared, with Georgia announcing upcoming sales.
Compared to May 19–25, cherries and apricots remained dominant, but plum sales were a new development, and apples regained traction, contrasting with their near-absence the previous week. Watermelon and melon sales also increased, with Uzbekistan and Greece leading early exports, similar to the prior week’s trends.
Buyer Demand Trends
Demand focused on last year’s table beets and carrots, with significant interest in strawberries. Ukrainian buyers actively sought green peas, mirroring the previous week’s demand for potatoes, last year’s white cabbage, zucchini, and strawberries, though rhubarb interest waned.
Price Trends in Key Markets
Ukraine
Vegetable and herb prices generally declined. Early potatoes, white cabbage, table beets, and carrots saw price reductions, while last year’s borscht set vegetables (potatoes, onions, cabbage, beets, carrots) remained stable. Increased supply of greenhouse cucumbers, tomatoes, and sweet peppers led to lower prices. Cauliflower, broccoli, and eggplant prices fell, while zucchini’s price range narrowed and Chinese cabbage’s widened. In the fruit segment, apple prices continued to rise due to seasonal stock depletion, and local cherries commanded the highest prices in a decade. Strawberry price ranges expanded. Compared to the previous week, early potato prices continued their decline, table beet prices rose (unlike this week’s drop), and tomato prices increased last week but fell this week, reflecting a volatile market.
Uzbekistan
Early potato prices dropped, while last year’s stock increased in price. Watermelon prices collapsed due to a surge in supply, aligning with the previous week’s trend of rising watermelon exports. Initial price offerings for sour cherries emerged, and plum sales began. Tomato prices continued to decline, consistent with the prior week’s stabilization. Apricot prices fell further, and cherry prices rose, particularly for larger calibers, as seen previously.
Egypt
Grape prices continued to decline with increased supply, a trend consistent with the previous week. Lemon prices rose, and carrots became more expensive, while yellow onion prices fell. Initial price quotes for red onions appeared. Egyptian garlic secured export deals to the USA, and tomato exports to Bahrain grew, reinforcing Egypt’s strong market position from the prior week.
Romania
Sample price offerings included cucumbers at €0.70/kg and early potatoes at €0.45/kg (EXW), reflecting competitive pricing for early produce.
Technological Group Activity
Activity in the EastFruit Fruittechnology group declined, with fewer listings for packaging materials, fertilizers, and plant protection products compared to the previous week. Offerings included greenhouse films, mulching films, tunnel films, shading nets, drip irrigation tapes, berry calibration equipment, vegetable pre-sale preparation tools, wireless scales, and potato harvesters. Innovations included a new method from MIT researchers using silk microneedles to deliver melatonin to plant tissues, extending produce shelf life. Compared to the previous week, packaging material listings remained strong, but seedling offers dropped significantly, with no saplings listed this week.
Comparison to Last Year
During the same period in 2024, white cabbage also led sales, with growing supply. Onions were offered by four countries, and eggplant listings emerged from Uzbekistan and Romania. Strawberry sales surpassed apples for the first time, and early blueberry and raspberry offers appeared in Ukraine. Watermelons were already among the top-selling fruits, a trend that intensified in 2025 with collapsing prices.
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