Boris Yefimov
According to Stefan Golubciuc, Chairman of the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Processors Speranța Con, this year the “fresh” domestic and foreign market is absorbing almost the entire volume of marketable berries and fruits that farmers manage to collect after the damage caused by spring frosts. If in previous years the volume of processing, in particular, of strawberries, apricots and cherries at the largest canning factories reached many hundreds of tons, this year they have so far managed to buy “from the market” only a few tens of tons of these raw materials.
In a slightly better situation were those few canning enterprises, which managed to keep their own agricultural areas for the production of raw materials. For example, Alfa-Nistru (Soroka).
Also, some producers of canned food, in particular jams, still managed, as in previous years, to import a small amount of industrial strawberries from the western regions of Ukraine. According to Speranța Con representatives, Ukrainian strawberries for processing are of relatively high quality, without stalks and physical contamination. This year it was even competitive in price compared to Moldovan strawberries. However, the demand for this raw material was high in Ukraine itself, neighboring Poland and other European countries. As a result, Moldova simply did not get this raw material.
“We are forced to reduce production plans for some products by half on average,” comments the director of Orhei Vit Boris Efimov. – The current level of supply prices for berries and stone fruits does not fit into the standard economics of production of the main types of canned fruit products – jams, jam, jelly and puree for blended juices. Purchasing significant quantities of very expensive raw materials in the current unstable realities of the food business is, unfortunately, an unreasonably high risk.”
The market of fruit raw materials at the beginning of the processing season is, as canned food producers say, “overheated”. Exceptions are rare. For example, this year the processors have almost not reduced the purchase of such a rare raw material for canning as green walnuts. Jam from it – a specific “niche” product, which is in demand in the post-Soviet space: in the Baltic States, the Caucasus, as well as in Israel. Green walnuts for jam are purchased for a short period of time, as its hard shell quickly “deregenerates”. This year, according to representatives of the industry association, this raw material was harvested about the same amount as in previous years – about 70-80 tons.
On the Moldovan market of fruit and berry raw materials there are gradually appear timid signs of changing the situation for the better. For example, as Boris Efimov notes, the offer prices for such a popular raw material for canning as raspberries are gradually beginning to decrease in Ukraine and Poland (on the Polish market it can already be purchased at a price close to the level of 2 euros/kg). In this context, it is possible that some canning factories will decide to import some chilled raspberries for processing”.
And the most important stages of the processing season – plum and apple – are still to come.
