Currently, the berry market of Ukraine is oversaturated, which is a threat to it. This was announced by the head of the APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits project, Alexander Khorev, during a speech at the forum “Berry No. 1”, initiated by Fruit Project LLC.
According to the expert, this situation has arisen due to a significant expansion of the cultivation area of almost all types of berries in the country with non-established sales channels for the product.
Noting the difficulties that domestic strawberry producers had to face, Khorev also mentioned a critical shortage of workers. According to him, there is not the right amount of not only skilled workers, but also specialists who could be involved in the production process.
This situation has led to the need to increase wages for berry workers, with which 80% of Ukrainian producers agree. Ukrainian farmers are ready to increase their workers' wages by 20%, Khorev said.
In addition, the specialist noted that this season there will be large fluctuations in the prices of garden strawberries due to its quality due to adverse weather conditions.
The beginning of the season is indicated by a sharp drop in prices, although this year it began 7-10 days later than usual. It is noteworthy that the loss of the berry crop in Poland gives Ukrainian agricultural producers a chance to increase the export supplies of frozen berries, summed up Alexander Khorev.
