According to EastFruit analysts, Ukrainian producers were able to increase exports of frozen raspberries in 2022 beating the previous record! This is especially amazing considering extremely difficult conditions due to the Russian war and occupation of some territories of Ukraine, labor shortages, very expensive and difficult logistics, regular Russian terrorist attacks on civil infrastructure, in particular on energy generation and distribution systems.
According to EastFruit‘s preliminary estimates, at the end of the calendar year, the export of frozen raspberries from Ukraine reached 40,000 tons, an increase of 20% compared to the previous record set in 2021. This reflects the rapidly growing freezing capacity in Ukraine as well as expanding production and quality of raspberries grown.
More than 60% of all Ukraine’s frozen raspberries were exported in 2022 to neighboring Poland, which increased imports of the Ukrainian berry by 37% over the year. In general, the first 11 largest importers of Ukrainian raspberries in 2022 are the countries of the European Union (EU). Germany was in second place, followed by Lithuania, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Belgium, and France. All these countries imported from Ukraine around 1,000 tons or more each.
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“Given the problems with the energy infrastructure, which is experiencing constant attacks from Russia, such a result is another small victory for Ukraine and its farmers. After all, under these conditions, it is very difficult to freeze raspberries and store them,” says Andriy Yarmak, economist of the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“Of course, Ukrainian producers exported frozen raspberries this year at the first opportunity to reduce risks. Therefore, it is not surprising that they were forced to reduce the export price of products compared to last season. However, the level of prices received by both farmers and processors completely covered the costs of growing, processing, and storing frozen berries. Therefore, it has created good opportunities for further development of this sector in the future,” says the FAO expert.
It should also be noted that complex logistics did not prevent Ukrainian exporters from expanding the geography of raspberry exports. In 2022 large shipments of Ukrainian frozen raspberries were delivered to 24 world countries, which is yet another record.
For more information: east-fruit.com