According to Anneta Ganenco, chairwoman of the Association Pomușoarele Moldovei, it is too early to judge the price level of greenhouse Moldovan strawberries for the first harvest – which is at least two weeks away. Possible cold weather with precipitation will not affect the timing and quality much, but everything is possible. But the price level of competing imports will definitely have to be reckoned with.
Since last week, the supply of imported (Greek) strawberries has increased noticeably at wholesale and retail markets and in the retail stores in Chisinau. The retail price varies widely – from 80-100 lei/kg (spontaneous hawker trade and stationary markets) to 100-120 lei/kg (chain and boutique retail). That is, this year, in early April, the price is at least 20 lei/kg lower than at the same moment last year.
Moreover, some markets are already offering discounts, as a result of which the store price is on a par with the market price and even lower. There is also almost no price difference between retail and “microscopic” wholesale – one or two cases. On weekends, the price level usually rises slightly.
Quality, i.e. appearance and display, “floats”. In chain retailers a lot of unripe berries. In markets, strawberries often look almost flawless: large, regular shape, evenly and brightly colored. The taste has a “cucumber” flavor and crunchy consistency, which is generally normal for berries grown in “protected soil” structures.
According to the head of the Pomușoarele Moldovei Association, Moldovan berry producers are concerned about the pre-Easter situation for two main reasons. First, over the last few years, imported strawberries have been appearing on the Moldovan market in commercially significant quantities earlier and earlier. If five years ago imported strawberries in January-February at a price not less than 10 Euro/kg in supermarkets of premium segment were perceived by local consumers as more or less affordable exotic “for amateurs”, then in the last two years February strawberries in wide access in urban markets at a price of 7-8 Euro/kg is already a variant of the norm. That is, a fundamentally different market reality.
The second reason arising from the first is the strong pressure of imported strawberries prices on the starting prices of local strawberries. And the pressure is prolonged. In the best case Moldovan greenhouse strawberries will appear on the country’s market in the second decade of April. That is, for two or three months Moldovan consumer, oriented on buying extra-early berries, will have time to eat relatively inexpensive out-of-season strawberries. Taking this into account, even patriotically-minded connoisseurs of the “special taste” of local strawberries are unlikely to agree en masse to buy them at a price 25-30% higher than that of Greek or Turkish berries.
From all this we can conclude that the starting price level for Moldovan greenhouse strawberries will decrease from year to year. Or Moldovan farmers growing early strawberries in various types of greenhouses will have to find a way to offer them to local consumers at least in March.
And yes, export supplies to neighboring Romania are no longer an option. The berry business on the Romanian market is developing rapidly, including at the expense of domestic production. In just two years, no less than five greenhouse complexes – “glas houses” – have appeared in the suburbs of Bucharest, the level of which required investments of approximately no less than 1 million euros/ha.
