Ukraine 25/10/2021

Promising apple season in Ukraine

 

USPA FRUIT is one of the leading exporters of high quality Ukrainian apples. The company exports apples and fresh produce to 30 countries, including UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other countries from Southeast Asia, Africa and European Union.

Fructidor interviewed Volodymyr Gurzhiy, CEO and CCO at USPA Fruit, and investigated the actual situation at the Ukrainian fruit market.

For this apple season, the CEO expects a higher crop than in the last 2 years: “In regards to apples, we might have the top quality for export. Everything is looking very promising, the demand from the international market is stable, however there are still some issues due to the pandemic. People are oriented more on the spot market but not on the programs. A horizon of planning the sales is not more than a few weeks in ahead.”

Its varietal offer includes Royal Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji and other varieties. 

In terms of destinations, USPA will supply South East Asia, the European Union and Big Gulf countries. “We’ll see what we can do with the new countries. We are always looking for new markets for fragmental sales. In the future, we plan to widen our presence in Africa, however this season will not be appropriate for that, because smaller sizes, which requires that market, are not in such a big stock”, comments Gurzhiy.

In Ukraine there are 3 different climate zones which allow USPA to have different coloration and quality for the same variety. USPA aims to be as fragmented as possible and offers early and late varieties, different sizes, with lower or higher coloration.

“Our integration within the Ukrainian market is deep, and we have set up the project with Agri Consulting to support about 30 Ukrainian farmers to grow and export quality apples, and to consult them for free on how to treat the trees, how to extend the shelf life of the fruit and how to have a good transportability. That’s why we are tracking whole production day by day in different regions of Ukraine. Finally, our customers are happy receiving selected fruits supplied on the sole USPA Fruits’ standard which is partially even harder than UN standard. We are aimed to start from the very beginning of the season, while most countries from the Northern hemisphere have not started their season, and to keep on selling until the export quality exists. The main idea is to prolong the season and to achieve a year round supply from our country.”, concludes Vladimir Gurzhiy. 

For more information about USPA Fruit, see the webpage