Tomato season in the Republic of North Macedonia begins in the middle to end of May, when all the simple, plastic-made greenhouses and the first open-field farms will be harvesting. Until then, only heated greenhouse products will be available. From heated greenhouses come the tomatoes of the Badzo company, which is located in Bogdanci, in the south of the country. Mr. Vasil Shapkarov, General Director of Badzo, mentions: "For the time being, we are the only players in the market, but even our own production is low because of the limited sunshine. In April, we expect to have double our current production, and in May, five times more. We end our production in late June and begin again at the beginning of September."
© Badzo
Mr. Shapkarov stresses: "Our aim is to be active only when our country's tomatoes can fetch high prices, because when the rest of our country's growers arrive on the market, there is also an excess of Albanian tomatoes, which are sold at more competitive prices. Actually, this has reduced the cultivation of tomatoes in our nation. Anyway, when these growers enter the market, the whole national supply will increase by about ten times and will last until mid-November."
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
Ivan Popov (left), Vasil Shapkarov (center), and Anton Semenov (right) from Badzo at Fruit Logistica 2026.
"During winter, we export a lot of tomatoes to Poland. In spring and summer, our main markets are Serbia and Bulgaria, while we also export to Croatia, Lithuania, and Slovakia. We receive encouraging messages. Everyone is missing tomatoes, and everyone is asking for more. Spanish and Turkish products are expensive. Therefore, we are pleased with the demand, and the prices we get cover the increased production cost. This cost is going up every year for many reasons; energy and electricity become more expensive every year, while virus-resistant varieties are also becoming more expensive. They cost ten times more than the non-virus-resistant ones."
© Badzo
Another product that Badzo specializes in at this time of the year is spring cabbage. "At this moment, we export three trucks per day to Poland, Croatia, and Serbia. We are very pleased with the demand and will be harvesting this vegetable until mid-May," the Northern Macedonian entrepreneur concludes.
© Badzo
For more information:
Vasil Shapkarov
Badzo
Tel: +389 34 221 837
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
https://badzo.com.mk/
