Remember how at the beginning of summer we were worried about how much the price of strawberries and cherries had risen? But then July came and prices fell to last year’s levels (well, almost). It was as if there were no May frosts in the whole of Central Russia, which sellers blamed on the rise in berry prices.
Only blueberries remain. Prices for this berry, which is loved by many Russians, are clearly higher than a year ago. And other media outlets are alarming: blueberries have doubled in price in a year! And we decided to find out: what is happening on the country’s blueberry market?
COUNTRIES CHANGE EACH OTHER
I went shopping – the price per kilogram of berries ranged from 800 to 1400 rubles. There are significant discounts on Moroccan berries – they are already spoiling. Russian berries – from 1000 to 2000 rubles, large (more than 1 cm in diameter) and fresh. But to be fair, I note that last summer they cost about the same.
“According to Berry Union, the blueberry harvest in Russia now amounts to 1.5-2 thousand tons per year,” says Irina Koziy, director of the FruitNews news agency and general director of Berry Union. – This represents about 13-17% of the total market volume of this berry in our country.
Most of the blueberries on our shelves are imported. Their supply chain is very interesting. Irina Koziy explained: Since the blueberry harvest season is rather short (about a month and a half in one region), the geography of imports is very wide. Starting from Argentina, Peru, Chile, South Africa, Morocco, Italy, Spain and further to Georgia, Poland, Serbia, Moldova, Belarus. Approximately every 2-2.5 months the direction of supply changes: blueberries have “discolored” in one country; we change suppliers.
“That is why, for example, the supply of blueberries from Georgia and Serbia cannot replace each other,” says the expert. – They overlap in time for a very short period. Now the season in Georgia is already ending and in Serbia it is just beginning. For the same reason, it is impossible to grow blueberries in Russia at a cost that would meet all the needs of the Russian market.
CULTURE IS MISSING
According to Irina Koziy, in our country blueberries grown in open fields (not in greenhouses) can be harvested approximately between July and September. In May-June, local berries that were grown in heated greenhouses in the spring may be available on the market.
There are technologies that allow local blueberries to be stored until October in a controlled gas environment. But this requires expensive equipment and the involvement of foreign specialists who know this technology. Currently, the construction and operation of such storage facilities is expensive and difficult to organize. However, we already have farms that are implementing this.
I managed to speak to one of these farms in the Voronezh region. True, the interlocutor asked not to be named, as this year he had no problems with blueberries due to frost.
“The cold snap came at the peak of flowering, so all the ovaries died,” the farmer laments. – Our 10-hectare plantation was put out of business. But if we talk about the blueberry market as a whole, it is now actively growing. Just 3-4 years ago, shops sold only imported products. Now there are already a lot of Russian ones. It is grown mainly in the central and southern regions. This culture is capricious and requires a lot of labor and finances. Therefore, it cannot be cheap.
So, first of all, blueberries require a certain soil composition. If it is not there, peat, sulfur and other mineral fertilizers are added to the soil.
Secondly, planting material is not cheap. Until recently it was imported only from abroad, but now local varieties have appeared.
Thirdly, growing berries is not easy, as it is necessary to constantly maintain the root system in an acidic environment. And this can only be done by qualified personnel using various analyses and soil samples.
Fourthly, it is necessary to automate the process up to irrigation.
“Under these conditions, the price of blueberries last year was about 500 rubles per kilo,” the farmer continues. – In retail chains they were already selling for twice that price.
THERE ARE MORE RUSSIAN BERRIES
“The cost of growing berries in Russia after February 2022 has increased due to restrictions on the supply of all materials and equipment necessary for berry production, the depreciation of the ruble, a sharp increase in transport costs and rising prices for seasonal labor,” explains Irina Koziy. – Accordingly, the selling price of this berry has also increased. Imported blueberries have also risen in price due to the depreciation of the ruble and increased logistics costs. But in August, during the blueberry harvest season in Russia, the cost of this berry will decrease.
Specialists from the AB-Center agribusiness research and analysis centre monitor prices in all federal retail chains in Moscow on a weekly basis. Their statistics also eloquently refute the claims of some media outlets that the price of blueberries has doubled compared to last year.
“The average price on June 28 was 1,096.7 rubles,” says Alexey Plugov, general director of the center. – Compared to the data of a year ago, prices even decreased by 18.5%. This is due to the fact that blueberries began to be produced more in Russia. There is a lot of it and it is stored for a long time, unlike strawberries. So far we see that the price has not been affected by the May frosts, which means that there are sufficient volumes of berries on the market.
ONLY NUMBERS
How much do blueberries cost?
599.9 rubles is the absolute minimum price for blueberries
2888 rubles – absolute maximum
718.7 rubles – average minimum (25% of offers with the lowest price)
1494 rubles – maximum average (25% of offers with the highest price)
According to AB-Center data as of June 28, 2024. Prices were studied in federal retail chains in Moscow.
