The raspberry market has calmed down.
The raspberry processing campaign is ongoing, although it is clearly in its late stage. Depending on the weather conditions, raspberries for processing will still be bought for some time, but most likely not as long as two years ago (until November).
Currently, the purchase is still ongoing, although the raspberry market sector has become very quiet and calm. It is worth noting that we are after a series of price drops in processing plants and at purchase points that occurred at the end of July and in August, and then towards the end of the first half of this month.
As a result, the purchase prices for better quality raspberries (for freezing) have decreased by an average of 19 percent to the range of 6.00-8.50 PLN/kg (1.40-1.99 EUR/kg), while the purchase prices for lower quality raspberries have decreased by just under 13 percent to the range of 6.00-8.00 PLN/kg (1.40-1.87 EUR/kg). Price differences are significant and mainly have a regional character—the largest decreases affected the raspberry region in Lublin, where most purchases are made at prices ranging from 6.00-6.50 PLN/kg (1.40-1.52 EUR/kg).
These price cuts caused a great stir and protests among producers, but now the situation seems to have calmed down. Have the suppliers accepted this situation? It seems so. This year's season, despite prices much higher than last year, is generally being assessed quite negatively by raspberry producers. Indeed, prices are more than double compared to last year, but this is an unreliable comparison, as last season was simply disastrous. This year, we have poor yields, and with low crop productivity, the current prices are nothing extraordinary.
Many producers apparently concluded that even an improvement in prices towards the end of the season will not change much in their overall assessment of this campaign. What are the chances of a price increase? It's hard to say. Subsequent seasons in this market vary greatly in terms of price scenarios. The correlation with domestic yields is low.
We know that raspberries from Ukraine, often of poor quality but cheap, are imported to Poland. This is a significant factor blocking a potential strengthening of purchase prices when the supply of domestic fruits is decreasing. In the last four years, we had three seasons with an increase in purchase prices for industrial raspberries at the end of the campaign, but all three were specific.
Twice (in the 2020 and 2023 campaigns), there was an increase from a very low level of earlier prices. In the 2021 season, we had record high prices and a demand frenzy in this market, which maintained an upward trend from the beginning to the end of the campaign. Therefore, it is futile to look for analogies to the current situation in those years. There is a possibility that raspberry purchase prices will improve in September, but currently, it does not seem likely. Much depends on the weather.