The Ukrainian raspberry market this week is seriously outraged by the procurement prices of raspberries for freezing, advertised at a price of 12 UAH/kg, which is equivalent to 32 US cents or 30 euro cents per kg. The EastFruit team notes that these ads were placed mainly by intermediaries who planned to consolidate and resell raspberries for freezing at a higher price, so the cost of raw materials for processors in this case was slightly higher. However, this also forced raspberry processors to try reducing their procurement prices for these berries.
A little earlier, we reported that a number of Ukrainian farmers decided to stop harvesting raspberries, considering it unprofitable. According to market participants, the cost of raspberry harvesting ranges from 14 to 18 UAH/kg (38-49 US cents), depending on the region and yields. Therefore, the price of 12 UAH/kg in the vast majority of cases will not even cover the costs of harvesting of raspberries, not to mention other costs of growing. Accordingly, only small producers who do not use hired labor can afford to sell berries at such a low price.
“It should be noted that UAH 12 is not the lowest price offered to Ukrainian farmers for raspberries in local currency hryvnia. In the summer of 2018, prices even dropped down to UAH 8/kg, however, if prices are taken into account in US dollars, then today’s UAH 12 is equivalent to UAH 8 in 2018. But even this is not entirely correct, because dollar inflation was very high during this period. Accordingly, 32 cents in 2018 is equivalent to today’s 37 cents, considering official annual inflation rates of the US dollar. In other words, at present, the lower threshold of purchasing prices for raspberries in Ukraine in comparable prices is 14% lower than the all-time low of 2018,” says Andriy Yarmak, an economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
A detailed analysis of prices for previous years can be found in our Raspberry Price Cycles article published before the start of the 2023 season. By the way, in this article we forecast these market developments very precisely.
“In 2023 there is another unpleasant development for Ukrainian raspberry farmers – even in 2018, the prices for raspberries of everbearing remontant varieties were significantly higher than the prices for summer varieties. In 2023 on the other hand, the record low price was reached precisely during the harvesting of everbearing remontant raspberry varieties, which have never been sold for such a low price as now,” the expert notes.
Such a low level of prices for raspberries in Ukraine shocks not only local farmers, but also farmers and freezers in other European countries.
For more information: east-fruit.com