The growth of local production and cheap imports put Russian early apple producers at a disadvantage

To date, the situation in the segment of the early apple for Russian producers remains very deplorable. Most Russian gardeners are already ready to give up harvesting early varieties of these fruits due to a sharp collapse in selling prices, as well as the almost complete lack of end-user demand, EastFruit project analysts report.

In the current season, the harvest of early apples in Russia is slightly higher than a year ago. Key market players attribute this fact to an increase in the area under apple orchards in almost all regions of the country. Despite a fairly good harvest, local producers are currently facing two rather serious problems. These are distribution channels for the current apple harvest, as well as a large percentage of imported apples on the Russian market.

So, today the Geneva variety apple is offered for sale at 26-35 rubles/kg ($0.35-0.47/kg), which is on average 20% cheaper than at the end of last week. Compared to the same period last year, today the prices for early varieties of apples in Russia are on average 1.5 times lower. For comparison: in mid-July 2020, apple prices were announced at the level of 50-75 rubles/kg ($0.67-1/kg).

Retail chains also played an important role in such a rapid fall in prices for local apples. Producers say they refuse to buy these fruits at a price higher than 25 rubles/kg ($0.33/kg). Also, in the domestic market of the Russian Federation there is a large percentage of imported products, both apples of the new crop and last year. At the same time, local retail chains prefer to work with imported products, since they have a better presentation. For comparison: apples of a new crop produced in Moldova with delivery in Moscow are currently offered for sale at 30 rubles/kg ($0.40/kg).

Russian gardeners consider it inexpedient to continue harvesting an early apple, since the costs of labor, logistics, and packaging for these products have increased significantly this season. According to key market players, in order for apple harvesting to be profitable, prices in this segment should not be lower than 40 rubles/kg ($0.54/kg).

Some producers are trying to find a way out of this situation and offer everyone who wants to pick apples in their gardens. In such cases, the price per kilogram of apples is announced from 20 rubles/kg ($0.27/kg). But, even such measures do not bring the desired result, most gardeners are forced to hand over almost the entire crop of apples for processing at 7 rubles / kg ($ 0.09 / kg).

It should be noted that today there are already offers of apples of later varieties from local farms, which are suitable for transportation and for temporary storage. The price for such fruits ranges from 40-45 rubles/kg ($0.54-0.60/kg). But, if the situation with the pace of sales does not change for the better in the near future, then it is not a fact that such a price level will be maintained for higher-quality apples.