Georgia blueberries

This week, blueberry growers and exporters panicked after learning that the Russian market could be closed for Georgian blueberries, as Russia is the main export market for Georgia blueberries.

The Georgian National Food Agency (NFA) has published an announcement on this issue, stating that the export of vegetable products to Russia continues without difficulties. At the same time, the NFA confirms that Russia has tightened regulations on imported plant products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, and if necessary, Rosselkhoznadzor has the right to request additional documentation on the use of pesticides or conduct a laboratory test.

Impact on blueberry

The official announcement does not seem convincing to the producers, as they have not yet experienced how the new regulation works in practice. The last batches of blueberries arrived in Russia before the new regulation and the new ones have not yet crossed the border. Uncertainty has already hit the local market, as large growers who bought blueberries from small farmers stopped buying or offering lower prices.

However, growers note that prices were falling anyway because the Russian market is now supplied by Serbian blueberries and the quality of Georgian blueberries is declining as the season draws to a close.

FCO is among the largest blueberry growers in Georgia with 36 hectares of blueberry plantations in the Guria region. The company representative, Rati Morchiladze, told EastFruit that from the beginning of the season until June 28, the company was purchasing blueberries from other growers as it has the full post-harvest chain and can handle the process of collection, classification and packing.

However, as of the current week, the company stopped buying blueberries due to uncertainty about new regulations in the Russian market.

“As we know, the new regulation gives the Russian side the right to request additional documentation on the use of pesticides and to test the product in the laboratory, if necessary. As we do not control what type of pesticides other producers use, it is risky for us to buy and sell their product on the Russian market. "

Increase in exports

According to Morchiladze, the company has already sold 20 tons of blueberries for export and plans to ship another batch of 30 tons later this week. 11 tons out of 30 will be shipped to Germany for the first time.

Morchiladze claims that potential problems in the Russian market will not affect his business in the future, as the company is Global GAP certified and plans to increase exports to European markets. Overall, Morchiladze assesses the current season positively, as the company reached new markets this year. The blueberry season will last another two weeks in Guria.

Fruit season

Another large blueberry producer is Green Valley (Mtsvane Mdelo in Georgian) with 15 hectares in the Imereti region. The company has already harvested and exported more than 25 tons of blueberries to Russia, which represents more than 2/3 of this year's harvest, as this is the second year they have obtained a harvest. The company's representative, Zura Tsereteli, tells EastFruit that the situation in the Russian market is also uncertain for them, but since the company sells only its own blueberry and the season ends in 10 days, they are less concerned.

For Green Valley, the current season is good, despite recent developments, as the export price was initially quite high and remained at a relatively high level for a long period. Tsereteli believes that the high prices were initially related to this year's late harvest and that the Imereti region started selling first. Another positive development for the company this year was receiving Global GAP