The Ukrainian market for raspberries this week has been shattered over the cost of purchasing frozen raspberries, which are advertised with a cost of 12 UAH/kg. That’s comparable to 32 US cents, or 30 euro cents per kilogram. The EastFruit team points out that the ads were mainly placed through intermediaries that planned to consolidate and then resell frozen raspberries at a premium price and, therefore, the price of processing raw materials were slightly greater. This also prompted the processors of raspberries to reduce the prices they pay for raspberries.
In the past, we mentioned that several Ukrainian farmers have decided to end harvesting raspberry, because they believed it would be unprofitable. According to the market experts that the price of harvesting varies from 14 to 18 UAH/kg (38-49 US cents), dependent on the location and production. Thus, a price at 12 UAH/kg in most cases does not cover all the cost of harvesting raspberries, let alone the other expenses associated with cultivating. So, only the small scale producers that don’t employ employees can afford selling berries for such a cheap prices.
“It must be pointed out that UAH 12 isn’t the most affordable price that is that is offered to Ukrainian producers of raspberries, in the local currency, the hryvnia. The summer of 2018 prices fell to UAH 8 per kilogram, but when prices are taken into consideration using US dollars, today’s UAH 12 equals UAH 8 in 2018. This isn’t completely accurate, as the inflation rate of dollars was extremely large during that time. So, 32 cents in 2018 was equivalent to 37 cents when you consider the current annual inflation rates for in the US dollar. That is currently the threshold for the cost of buying raspberries in Ukraine at the same price range is a whopping one-fourth lower than the previous record-breaking low of 2018” states Andriy Yarmak who is an economist in the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
An in-depth analysis of the price trends for the previous year is available within the Raspberry Price Cycles article published just prior to the start of the season 2023. In this article, we will forecast the price changes very accurately.
“In 2023, there will be an unsettling event for Ukrainian raspberries – and even in 2018the costs for ever-bearing, remontant varieties were substantially more expensive than those of summer-grown varieties. On contrary the record-low price was achieved precisely in the harvest of raspberries that were never sold at the same price as currently,” the expert notes.
The low price for raspberries in Ukraine is a shock not just to local farmers, but those who are farmers as well as freezers from different European countries.
For more details: east-fruit.com