a few years when demand for exotic fruit in Ukraine lagged, fruit importers are noting an improvement in the market.“After 2008 there was a weakening in the demand for exotic fruits,” said Oleg Aleksandrov, manager of the Ukranian Fruit Company. “But during the last two years there has been a rebound in demand, and now there's a lot of room for the exotic market to grow.” Ukranian Fruit Company imports bananas from Ecuador and citrus from Turkey, Pakistan, Spain, Egypt, South Africa and Argentina on a year-round basis, and Aleksandrov noted that the amount of fruit they import has been increasing.
“Last year we imported 73 million kilos of bananas, 20,000 kilos of citrus and 10,000 kilos of other fruit,” said Aleksandrov. They have banana-ripening facilities in Ukraine, and they also ship fruit to Moldova and Belarus. But their main market remains Ukraine, and the landscape for imported exotic fruit is getting much better there.
“There is more demand,” said Aleksandrov. “In general, the picture is much more positive today than in 2009, for example.”
Fo
r more information: Oleg Aleksandrov
Ukrainian Fruit Company
Tel: +380 44 291 55 55
Fax: +380 44 291 55 50
www.ufc.ua
