Ukrainian farmers refuse to harvest - the purchase price of apples fell to one hryvnia per kilo.
Collecting them does not make sense, gardeners say. While domestic apples cost two boxes of matches, import prices at supermarkets soared up to 80 hryvnias per kilogram. Analysts at the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association say that the excess of Ukrainian apples reaches 160-200 tons. And this is about dessert apples. It is generally difficult to estimate the excess apple for industrial processing. “Against this background, the abundance of imported apples in Ukrainian supermarkets looks quite strange,” analysts say. Experts found the highest price for imported apples in the MetroCash & Carry supermarket chain. Here, Granny Smith apples are sold at 80 hryvnias / kilogram, which is $ 2.83. While domestic apples of the same variety are sold in bulk at 6 hryvnias / kilogram, that is, 21 cents. And at this price you can buy high-quality sorted apples. At the same time, Maxim Kulik, export consultant for Vinagrette LLC, says that in reality there is no reason for farmers to panic. “This year, the average crop. In Ukraine, apples did not grow 100% or 50%, or even 20%. The yield increase in 2018 is only 5-7%. All these conversations only exaggerate, and play into the hands of supermarkets that earn on this. Farmers succumbed to speculation and are now running in a panic to whom to sell apples. At the same time, not one of the gardeners with whom we work for export refused to harvest. Yes, prices fell, but this did not come as a surprise. ”
The expert says that last year apples were more expensive due to adverse weather conditions - frosts in May and summer hail. “Then most of the crop was lost, and the rest had no presentation and could not be exported. Therefore, apples of export quality, first class, were sold for 50 cents / kilo, that is, 14 hryvnias. In 2018, prices are lower - 20-25 cents / 6-7 hryvnias for the same first class. But this is not a low price, it is just the minimum threshold of profitability, which allows the manufacturer not to go broke. The fact that everything is lost is most often shouted by companies that do not have a sales market, that do not know what export and system sales are. On the fingers of your hand you can count Ukrainian companies that have a good reputation in the foreign market and long-term contracts. Most counted on the sales market in Russia through Belarus, which is now gradually hiding behind how much I know about the information. And Europe chooses the producer very carefully. ”The expert predicts that apples will fall in price by another 20% until December, because not all farmers have equipment for long-term storage of fruits and they will rush to sell them. After the New Year, apples will rise in price - large companies that do not sell cheaply will put them on the shelves.