Ukraine
In spring, some farms deliberately postponed sales until the very end of the marketing season, hoping to sell their produce at 50-60 UAH/kg (0.97-1.16 EUR/kg). However, the real market price was around UAH 30/kg (EUR 0.58/kg) and was not going to rise. When expectations were not met, producers began to simultaneously enter the markets with the product – and thus only increased the pressure on the price.
“If my assessment (regarding inflated expectations – LP note) is correct, then there is a problem: he (the grower) has already put in expenses because of these inflated expectations,” EastFruit quoted Volodymyr Gurzhia, head of USPA Fruit, as saying.
The sum of internal and external factors made the market unpredictable: without stable sales, farmers were forced to make decisions in conditions of constant uncertainty. According to the expert, the market was in a state of panic and chaotic movements.
Nevertheless, the fresh produce segment as a whole remained profitable, but the margin was much lower than the producers had expected. This season has clearly demonstrated a systemic error: focusing on the peak price at one or another period of the season without analyzing the real demand leads to losses. Even in those years when sales in general were relatively successful.
Poland
The final marketing season of 2025/26 was not an easy one for Polish apple growers. The high harvest of last year(optimistic estimates – 4.1 million tons – LPnote ) combined with weak exports and growing competition provoked a drop in prices. The situation is aggravated by expensive logistics and severe price pressure from retail chains.
The Polish apple concentrate industry did not become a mitigating “safety cushion” for growers either. Thus, in February of this year, when the downward trend in the “fresh market” was just emerging, the price of industrial apple in Poland dropped by almost a third.
As a result, two months before the end of the marketing season, Polish farmers and traders have high stocks of marketable apples for the crop 2025. Until recently, they had no chance to increase the selling prices of this product.
However, the weather anomalies of this spring may dramatically reverse the trend, writes EastFruit. April and early May brought a wave of frosts to the horticultural regions of Poland, which became the main topic of discussion on the fruit market of the country. In some places, thermometers dropped several degrees below zero, and the cold snap often came suddenly, taking even experienced farmers by surprise.
According to experts, the past frosts have already caused significant damage to many farms. Sharp temperature changes – up to 20-30 degrees for one or two days – are becoming more and more typical for the industry. Experts note that such climatic fluctuations are increasingly affecting the volume and quality of crops, and this trend will only intensify in the future.
The situation is also aggravated by the lack of moisture: in some regions of Poland there has been no significant precipitation for several weeks. This additionally intensifies the negative effect of low temperatures. The final scale of losses will only become clear after the harvest, but already now there are reports of serious damage to orchards.
Current weather conditions may also affect the market of apples of last year’s harvest. If fears of a significant decline in the new crop are confirmed, a change in the price trend cannot be ruled out – after a period of decline, prices may rise. In recent weeks, the market has been dominated by supply over demand. The Polish apple market has frozen in anticipation. If the May warming does not compensate for the damage caused by spring stresses, we should not expect cheap apples next season.
Moldova
As previously reported by Logos Press, contrary to expectations, Moldova’s monthly export of apples this spring is not increasing, but decreasing. In April 2026, Moldova exported 10.2 thousand tons of apples – it is less than a month earlier (10.8 thousand tons). Moreover, this year, March exports of Moldovan fruit were below the five-year average for this month.
According to EastFruit monitoring data, average wholesale prices for Moldovan apples of liquid export varieties (about 8-10 lei/kg) remained practically unchanged from their February level. The reason, among other factors, lies in the fact that Moldovan apple is purchased by traders more expensive than Polish and Ukrainian apple. Consequently, the potential for growth of prices for Moldovan apple was exhausted in winter.
That is, storage of apple in industrial refrigerators practically from the beginning of the current year was invested in the costs of Moldovan farmers without guaranteed prospects of payback by the end of the season.
In Moldova, as well as in other countries of Eastern Europe, there is a significant damage in fruit sector from frosts. Moreover, in the first days of May, not only stone fruit plantations were affected, but also apple orchards. However, the correlation with this fact and the prospects of at least some potential growth of prices for apples in the country is not yet apparent.
