Dynamic situation on the strawberry market in Poland

2021-05-26 10:50

This is only the beginning of the domestic strawberry season in Poland. The fruit from under the covers, not from the open ground, still dominates here and already we can hear a lot of complaining from the producers about the price situation. Where is this dissatisfaction coming from?

Because of the very dynamic drop in prices over the past week. Producers are stressing that prices should not have fallen so quickly in the current supply situation of a season that has seen such a large slide. There is not that much commodity at all, especially as the May weather is still not spoiling our farmers. Why, then, have domestic strawberries fallen by more than 54 per cent in just 10 days or so?

You can see how dynamic the decline was on the graph. Currently, large wholesale prices for Polish strawberries are between 8.50 and 12.00 PLN per kilo, which is slightly, but always, cheaper than a year ago.

The reason for such large reductions is pressure from imports. In recent days, the Polish market has received a lot of strawberries imported from abroad. Not from Spain, where the season is already coming to an end. They came from Greece, but also from Albania and Serbia, where the fruit is now plentiful and relatively cheap. This has pushed import prices down by nearly 60 per cent to 6.00-8.00 zlotys per kilo (and there were offers of 5.00 zlotys per kilo). This is 50 percent cheaper year-on-year.

This situation is also being exploited by dishonest sellers who repackage cheap Serbian strawberries in Polish tubs and sell them as domestic. With this price difference they can afford to make a very competitive offer. They are thus creating additional pressure on domestic strawberries.

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