"It is stone fruit season in Russia and traders hoping to make some extra money have over-ordered and flooded the market with peaches and nectarines from Turkey, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and China. We have also been flooded with apples, during a period when they are not really in demand. There is fair demand for Granny Smiths, but a large amount of red apples have been sent from Argentina for a higher price than seasonal fruits like watermelons. For example, importers are paying 90 Rubles/kg (€1.32) for the apples, when watermelons are coming in from SE Europe for 15-20 Rubles/kg (€0.22-0.29), making the apples difficult to sell." shared the Russian importer.
In Ukraine, the first Golden apples arrived almost 1.5 months earlier than usual, which came as a surprise to buyers and wholesalers. As a rule, growers do not start harvesting the apples earlier than the second half of August. This is usually due to growers selling the apples from storage until the new harvest in September.
Other apple varieties didn't fare so well, with prices down by up to 85% compared to last year.
"A producer has said that they began selling apples at low prices, due to the crop losses they experienced after the bad weather conditions during the spring. Some farms had significant losses during the early apple harvest." shared Tetiana Getman from Info-Shuvar.
"However, it's not all bad news, producers have been reporting high demand for Golden apples and are receiving good prices for them. In comparison, the early Apple Early Geneva is significantly cheaper, currently selling between €0.27-0.47/ kg in wholesale markets, while the Golden is being sold between €0.67-0,73/kg."
For more information:
Tetiana Getman
Shuvar
Tel: +38 (093) 719-92-74
Email: t.getman@shuvar.com
info.shuvar.com