Russian growers from the southern regions of the country have started harvesting early blueberry varieties at the end of last week. As of today, the first batches of blueberries have already become available on the market. The crop is relatively new for Russian producers, as growers have begun to actively plant it in the last few years.
Prices for early blueberries from local farms today fluctuate in a fairly wide range – from 700 to 1000 RUB/kg ($ 9.54-13.63/kg), depending on the caliber and quality of the offered berries. The supply of blueberries on the market at the moment is rather limited: so far only a few producers from the southern regions of Russia offer them.
According to east-fruit.com¸ grower say the main problem in this segment is formed by the distribution channels. Since today the volumes of blueberries from local farms are rather small, retail chains prefer to work with imported berries, which are often offered in bulk much cheaper than local berries. Serbia and Belarus are the main suppliers of imported blueberries to the Russian market.
