The currant season is shaping up to be record-breaking in many ways.
The situation on the currant market is quite unusual, especially compared to last year. And it's not just about the absolutely record-high prices for black currants. The current season will also go down in history for another reason, namely, due to a significant shift in time. Last year, in the first week of July, the currant harvesting season for processing was just beginning. Now it is basically in its final phase.
With a much earlier start, comes a much earlier end. Although, certainly on a limited scale, it will still continue in those regions of the country where there are slightly more fruits. Generally, however, there are record-low amounts of fruits this year, and in terms of this low supply, the 2024 campaign will also be remembered in the industry's history. Currants are few, both black and colored. But the demand is mainly for the black ones. And the demand is high. Furthermore, it remains at a high level, despite some companies withdrawing from the competition for raw materials. And this is reflected in the prices.
Black currants have absolutely record-high purchase prices. For fruits for pressing, the prices range from 8.00-8.50 PLN/kg (1.86-1.98 EUR/kg) most often. For frozen fruits, it is 8.20-9.20 PLN/kg (1.91-2.14 EUR/kg). As seen in the above chart, such price levels, even if they do not increase further, are sufficient to maintain an advantage over prices from previous seasons until the end of the campaign. The situation is worse for red currants. Prices for fruits for pressing are mostly 1.00 PLN/kg (0.23 EUR/kg) (although there are already purchases below this threshold). Prices for frozen fruits range from 1.20-1.70 PLN/kg (0.28-0.40 EUR/kg).
Incidentally, prices above 1.70 PLN/kg (0.40 EUR/kg) were noted in the past week (e.g., 1.85 PLN/kg or 0.43 EUR/kg). Thus, the prices here are much lower than for black currants, which has been a tradition for years. But even in this case, this year's prices are record-high compared to the previous five years. The most expensive season was in 2019, but even then, the highest prices (in early July 2019) did not exceed 1.50 PLN/kg (0.35 EUR/kg). However, it is worth noting that the current purchase prices for red currants are not historically the highest. In the last decade, there was a season with better prices for them. This refers to 2017 when purchase prices started at 3.00 PLN/kg (0.70 EUR/kg) and peaked at 4.00 PLN/kg (0.93 EUR/kg).