The current development of stone fruits in North Macedonia is progressing without any problems. Mr. Aleksandar Kovancaliev, packhouse and sales manager of Dojrana Fresh Produce, mentions: "The only incident for which we had to take some measures was a prolonged period of low temperatures, reaching -1 to -1,5 Celsius at the turn of February to March. We used fog generators and burned straw, and we had no problem. The location of our orchards close to Lake Dojrana makes it very unlikely to suffer frost damage, but in any case, we have to be careful and take protection measures."
© Dorjana Fresh Produce
"We cultivate 22 hectares of apricots, with half of them being covered with plastic, 10 hectares of cherries, all of them plastic-covered, and 5 hectares of plums, which are not covered yet. This coverage technique, a big investment applied two years ago, gives us protection from rain and hail, but it also helps us to enter the market earlier."
"In apricots, we expect to begin our season around the 25th of May, and in cherries during the second or third week of May. In these two fruits, we cover equally the whole length of the season, but in plums, we focus mostly on the late part. Despite climate change making the weather warmer in our country as well, so far, we have no problem with meeting the necessary chilling hours for our stone fruits. On the other hand, the summer is more challenging due to extreme heat and lack of rain," explains Mr. Kovancaliev.
© Dorjana Fresh Produce
Dojrana Fresh Produce is a branch of the Dutch company Fruitful-Ventures, exporting its products to the Netherlands, Germany, the Nordic and Balkan countries. Mr. Kovancaliev states the perception of his company concerning its future investments. "We are not interested in expanding into stone fruits. During the last five seasons, the stone fruit production cost has increased by 200%, while prices have increased by only 5%. However, we are making serious investments in table grapes, collaborating with Bloom Fresh."
"Last year, we planted our first five hectares of Sweet Celebration and Sweet Globe. This season, we planted 8 more hectares of Alison. Next year, we will plant another 20 hectares, and in 4 years, we expect to have reached 100 hectares, including Kelly and some other varieties as well," Mr. Kovancaliev concludes.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
Aleksandar Kovancaliev at Fruit Logistica 2026
For more information:
Aleksandar Kovancaliev
Dojrana Fresh Produce
Tel: +389 70 457 053
Email: [email protected]
