In our country, we are in the height of blueberry harvesting season! The berries are arriving on the shelves from farms across the country, but alongside this, prices are slightly falling. In the last decade of July, the market saw the most blueberries, as reported by EastFruit experts.
Price reduction due to quality
Although the volume of berries is increasing, demand for them remains high. The culprit is the poor weather conditions that reduced the overall harvest this season. As a result, large batches of lower quality berries have entered the market that need to be sold as quickly as possible. This forces producers to lower prices to avoid losing customers.
At the beginning of August, a kilogram of blueberries in Ukraine can be purchased for a price ranging from 100 to 180 hryvnias ($2.39-$4.31), depending on quality. This is a third cheaper than a week ago.
Despite this, blueberries are still more expensive than in 2024 – on average by 23%. Farmers assume that prices will remain high, as this year's harvest is indeed not very successful due to the weather. So, the shortage of quality berries may affect prices until the end of the season.
It is also worth noting that food prices in Ukraine are already close to European levels.
Ukrainian farmers are actively harvesting blueberries, but with the increase in supply, prices for the berries are falling. Poor weather conditions have significantly affected the quality of the harvest, which may lead to a shortage of quality products until the end of the season. Despite this, producers expect that prices will remain high compared to the previous year.