According to EastFruit analysts, in 2021 Ukraine increased the volume of blueberry exports by 65% ​​compared to 2020. At the same time, fresh blueberry export volumes were 18% lower than in the 2019 record. the downward trend in the price of blueberries, which is unpleasant for Ukrainian exporters, should also be taken into account - the average export price of blueberries in 2021 was on average 9% lower than in 2020.

“We have to admit that the structure of Ukrainian blueberry exports has deteriorated. Unfortunately, its geography shows a bias not towards direct exports, but towards sales to Poland and Belarus. Polish traders then re-export Ukrainian blueberries to other EU countries, earning additional money from them. Belarus, in turn, re-exports Ukrainian blueberries to the Russian market. And these two countries accounted for 65% of the total export of Ukrainian blueberries. The third largest importer of Ukrainian blueberries is the Netherlands, which is also an important middleman. Therefore, more than 70% of the blueberries from Ukraine were exported to intermediary countries and only about a third to consuming countries, ”he says. Andriy Yarmak, Economist at the Investment Center of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) .

“Considering that the area planted with blueberries in Ukraine, according to various estimates by market participants and experts, is growing by 600-700 or even 1000 hectares per year, we should have expected export growth to levels above 2019 in 2021. However, this does not happen. I don't think the main reason is the growth in the capacity of the domestic market, although this trend has been present in recent years. In my opinion, the main reason is that Ukrainian growers still cannot find an effective technology to grow blueberries, they have problems with volume consolidation, post-harvest handling, and they do not make enough efforts to promote blueberries, mainly in foreign markets. This is confirmed by the data on the sale of more than 70% of the berries to intermediary countries.

In 2021, Ukrainian growers complained about the collapse in blueberry prices, claiming it was a record low on the domestic market. However, in their analytical material, EastFruit analysts showed that blueberry prices were not at all-time lows, although they did decline compared to the abnormal 2020.  Evgeniy Kharlan, Director of Strategy and Development, Nikdaria Company (TM IBerry)  during the 17th International Conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine-2021. New investment opportunities ”said on December 3 that the Ukrainian blueberry market will suffer a great impact, if the blueberry areas continue to grow. This will come true if berry growers do not start cooperating following the example of fruit growers, who have been selling apples and other fruits together for more than a year through the export platform of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association.

Currently, many countries are actively expanding the acreage of blueberries. While many believe that blueberry consumption will grow faster than production growth, this has yet to happen. The main exporters in the world, such as Peru and Chile, are forced to reduce the average export price of their berries every year. At the same time, labor shortages and rising harvest costs are already putting pressure on new expansion opportunities in these countries. Even in the largest blueberry producing countries in the EU, such as Spain, growers got a significantly lower price for blueberries for several years in a row than did Ukrainian growers. This means that a decrease in the price of blueberries in Ukraine is inevitable, given the explosive growth in costs in 2022.

Consequently, Ukrainian blueberry growers must urgently consolidate their efforts to find important marketing and technological solutions in order to ensure the sustainable development of this segment. Already now, many investors prefer to invest money in the cultivation of raspberries, whose prices in 2021 were even higher than the prices of blueberries. The cultivation of raspberries is much cheaper and the investment is less.