As per EastFruit analysts this week, saw an unanticipated drop in the wholesale price of table grapes grown in Tajikistan. As per Bakhtiyor Abduvokhidov, an international specialist in the business of fruit and vegetables In just one week prices for table grapes in white varieties decreased 43%, between $1.9-2.0 US dollars per kg and to less than US $1.1.
This is certainly far from the growth the local business community was looking forward to, in the background of a serious wine-related disaster that struck Tajikistan and Uzbekistan during this winter in 2023 which resulted in the demise of significant portions in the wineries.
What caused this dramatic drop in the prices of table grapes from Tajikistan within a single week? Bakhtiyor Abduvokhidov. Explains: “After the New Year holiday, demand for table grapes dropped dramatically. Furthermore, there are less expensive alternative fruits available, like the Pakistani mandarins which cost about half the cost of the grapes. Additionally, intermediaries faced difficulties preserving the grapes in their storage facilities and were unable to retain the fruit due to a an increase in the quality of grapes. But the primary reason for the decline in prices was the import of table grapes that were cheap coming from Iran and the resulting drop in prices to levels that were that was lower than the harvest!”
“It is fascinating to observe that prices have slowed in the case of varieties of grapes like Husaini or Lady’s Finger however prices for Toifi are still rising. Toifi variety, which is able to be kept, continuing to hold their value. Toifi can be purchased with a price of $1.3 US dollars per kg – – not the best, but above the other varieties. This is not normal because Toyfi is always cheaper than Husaini or Ladyfinger,” says the specialist.
The time for selling grapes to resellers was slow right from the beginning. The most notable was that prior to the New Year holidays, when people were hoping for the rise in prices for grapes the majority of Chinese white grapes flooded the market. This led to prices dropping in a manner that was lower than the harvest season. So, intermediaries attempted to delay the arrival of grapes however, prices are completely sunk.
“Although we’ve been trying to explain the market for vegetables and fruits players in countries like Eastern Europe and Central Asia for a long time that the storage of fruit and vegetables isn’t an individual business, as it’s an integral aspect of the overall industry of cultivating and selling the fruits and vegetables of our time, many remain on the same brush. buying fresh produce and other vegetables in the harvest season for the purposes of selling them at a higher cost is like playing the casino, in particular the countries that have not a shortage of storage facilities that can supply consumers in the local market” says Andriy Yarmak, an economist in the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
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