Frozen raspberry market in Ukraine: Global demand declines

The President of the 'Berry Growing of Ukraine' association, Iryna Kukhtina, has highlighted several challenges facing Ukrainian berry exporters, such as quality issues, non-compliance with declared characteristics, and missed delivery deadlines, which are hindering their expansion into international markets. Despite holding a strong position in the export of frozen raspberries, the industry is currently facing a decline in global demand. In an effort to diversify their export destinations and reduce reliance on Poland, which had been a major re-exporter of Ukrainian berries, Ukrainian producers have begun to directly export to countries like Germany, France, and Austria. However, to succeed in these markets, they must ensure higher quality and traceability of their products, which could be a challenge for an industry currently grappling with these issues.

Low product quality, non-compliance with the declared characteristics, violation of delivery deadlines - these and other problems prevent Ukrainian berry exporters from effectively conquering international markets. This opinion was expressed by the president of the “Berry Growing of Ukraine” association, Iryna Kukhtina, reports Yagidnyk. She noted that Ukraine occupies a confident position in the international market for the export of frozen raspberries. It is positive that recently there has been a trend towards a decrease in its sales to Poland - as the main re-exporter of Ukrainian berries. “From 2019 to 2022, more than 50% of Ukrainian exports went through Poland. Since 2023, our producers began to independently supply frozen raspberries to other countries, respectively, exports to Poland fell by 14%. Meanwhile, Germany, France, Austria and other European countries are potential consumers of Ukrainian berries, but it is worth remembering that it must be of higher quality, and ...