Russian strawberries move from roadsides to shops
Last year 10 hectares of this field were planted with garden strawberries, but due to high profitability the planting area was doubled in size. The yield is 10 tonnes of garden strawberries per hectare per season. The sale price is 150 roubles (3 Euro) per kilo, which is cheaper than from private traders. This explains an extremely high demand.
According to Valentin Baranovsky, the Deputy Head of Trade and Service Department in Chelyabinsk, in partnership with large merchandise retailers it is very important to take into consideration the lead time of products, especially perishable ones. The secret lies in well-organized and coordinated logistics – berries must be delivered safely from field to supermarket within the shortest possible time. The storage period of fresh strawberries is 48 hours. It is a risky business; just an hour spent in heat can result in the loss of the whole load.
Regardless of the profitability of this business, nowadays most of the berries available in supermarkets are frozen. This minimizes the risks and prevents the troubles involved in sales of fresh berries.
Source: www.rg.ru
