In December, a technological business tour to Serbia brought together Ukrainian berry growers and processors to study modern raspberry freezing and processing practices. Organized by the Ukrainian Berry Association (AYU) with support from the SIPPO program, this was the second such tour in 2025, following a business mission to the Netherlands in May.
Five Ukrainian companies participated:
- Divo-Yahoda (Kharkiv): full-cycle farm producing raspberries and garden strawberries.
- KB Freeze (Lviv): an enterprise specializing in shock-freezing and processing berries.
- INSORTEX (Poltava): an engineering company producing washing, sorting, and conveying equipment.
- Fresh Berry (Mykolaiv): leading frozen cherry producer.
- Goldberry (Kyiv region): farm growing strawberries, raspberries, and vegetables.
Participants visited Serbian farms and processing facilities, observing operations ranging from small cold storage units to plants freezing up to 30% of the national raspberry harvest. Despite Ukraine being a competitor on the global market, Serbian partners were open to sharing knowledge, guiding tours, and discussing technologies. The second day included a professional training session at the Horticultural Institute in Čačak.
Key observations included the dominance of summer raspberry varieties (about 80%, with Willamette the most popular), widespread manual harvesting, and reliance on small farms averaging 0.1 ha for raw material. Large commercial plantations rarely exceed 30 ha. Workforce shortages, high temperatures, and inconsistent yields remain challenges. Serbian processors may need to import raspberries in the coming years, opening opportunities for international collaboration.
Executive Director of AYU, Liubov Bilobrukh, stressed that the tour allowed participants to understand the full production chain, from field to freezing, and adapt successful solutions for competitive markets.
Source: uaberries.com
