Poland: Blueberry problems
The season for Polish highbush blueberries (American) is slowly gaining momentum and entering its regular phase, where the supply is already high enough to speak of the wholesale market for this fruit. Unfortunately, this year from the beginning of the blueberry campaign, Polish producers of these fruits and wholesalers offering them in bulk must face a huge problem - unfair competition.
A mass of blueberries imported from Romania is entering the Polish market, being dishonestly introduced. They often lack the required documents, are often clandestinely presented as domestic goods. They are offered at lower prices than blueberries from Polish crops, which undermines the entire domestic market for these fruits. A market that already has to deal with the consequences of the dynamic growth in production that has taken place in Poland in recent years.
As a result, the price situation at the beginning of the regular wholesale season is worse than bad. This can be seen in our chart. The average price of blueberries has already fallen significantly below the average of the previous five years. It is currently the lowest for this time period. Currently, blueberry prices in bulk are mostly in the range of 18.00-28.00 PLN/kg, with an average of 23.00 PLN/kg. Last year it was 37.00 PLN/kg (a decrease of 38 percent). The five-year average is 33.20 PLN/kg (a decrease of 31 percent).
This disastrous start to the season does not bode well for the 2024 blueberry trading campaign. It is difficult to expect a radical improvement. The supply of fruits will continue to increase, and the impact of imports will be visible for a long time, although it is worth noting the efforts of the relevant state services to curb unfair practices.
It seems that at the peak of supply this season, the wholesale price of dessert blueberries will drop below 10.00 PLN/kg, as was the case in the 2019 and 2021 seasons. The difference will most likely be that this peak supply and period of lowest prices will occur earlier this year than usual.